


The best kind of trouble

by CliffordAffliction



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 5 Seconds of Summer - Freeform, 5SOS - Freeform, AU, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blowjobs, Clemmings, Comfort, Comforting, Cuddles, Grinding, High School, High School AU, M/M, Muke Clemmings, Pranks, Prep School AU, Preparatory school AU, Riding, Rimming, Rule Breaking, Smut, Top!Luke, alternative universe, always cuddles, ashton is snotty, bottom!Michael, boys being cute and breaking rules, calum and ash really arent in this very much sorry, goofing off, handjobs, he doesnt like luke, hes a funny little fucker, kind of a pathological liar but funny nonetheless, lukes character in this is probably my favorite character ive ever written, they all go to a preparatory school, this is mostly focusing on Luke and Michael
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-07
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-04-25 08:21:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 71,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4953172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CliffordAffliction/pseuds/CliffordAffliction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You know” Luke instantly looked back at him and for a second Michael lost his train of thought “When I got here Monticello warned me to stay away from a few kids and I have a feeling he was talking about you” Michael said with a smile and Luke returned it before going back to stare up at the sky<br/>“Well you’d be right my friend” Luke began walking backwards again “But the question is: Are you going to listen?” Michael already knew the answer. From the second he seen Luke on his first day he knew he would always have the want to be around him. Luke’s eyes were almost twinkling under the moon and Michael began to get goosebumps. He put on the biggest smile he could and looked straight back at Luke<br/>“Not a chance” </p><p>Or After Michael is sent to a strict Preparatory school he meets the school troublemaker, Luke Hemmings, and his world begins to change</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys love this because it's the fic I'm most proud of and I've had this idea for a very long time. Follow me on [Tumblr](http://clifford-affliction.tumblr.com/) if you want!

Michael sat in the head master’s office drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair as he looked ahead out the window. If it weren’t for the colorful autumn trees outside he would feel like he was in a black and white movie. Everything in the office was a dark color or completely white and the only sound was the clicking of high heels on the marble floor just behind the office door.

Michael’s parents had dropped him off only 10 minutes prior and all he was left with was a tight hug from his mom with tears running down her face and his father just leaned against the car giving him a nod before they took off. Of course they were upset with him but Michael still expected more than what he got. Maybe a slight talk from his dad telling him to behave himself or his mom telling him that she would miss him but neither of them said a word to him before they drove off and Michael was left all alone to walk up to the 3 story brick building.

He could hear church bells go off in the distance and Michael leaned forward in his chair to see students in black and crimson uniforms crowding out of the chapel. Some of them seemed snotty like Michael was expecting but the others were goofing off and one was even doing a dorky dance as he walked up the steps with a pile of books in his arms. Michael cracked a little smile at the blond boy and wondered if this would be the last time he would smile while he was here. It seemed like a realistic hypothesis judging how depressing the whole setting was.

Michael felt himself tense up when he heard a deep voice on the other side of the door. He closed his eyes and pretended he was just sitting in his living room at home waiting for his favorite TV show to come on and he added that to the list of things he would miss from home.

“-Just fax it to him as soon as possible” The door was now opening behind him and Michael looked forward again trying to focus on other things but it wasn’t working. He heard footsteps behind his chair as he looked down at his shoes and then a dark figure appeared in his peripheral vision “Hello Mr. Clifford. I’m headmaster Monticello” Michael looked up and a tall man in a black suit stood above him.

“Hello sir” it wasn’t like Michael to call anyone sir but he wanted to make sure he was on the good side of the head master. He didn’t want to add any more problems to the ones he knew he would already have. For example he knew making friends would be a problem but he figured he wouldn’t want to be friends with anyone here anyways. Michael watched as the man walked over to look out the window with his hands clasped behind his back as the pine trees swayed back and forth.

“I have been informed that you are here after getting expelled from a public school downstate. Is that right?” now his eyes were pouring into Michael’s and Michael knew damn well that he knew exactly why he was there. He just wanted to hear Michael admit it.

“That’s right sir” Michael swallowed down any negative comments he had about the situation and knew it would just make things worse.

“Now I want you to understand something” Michael looked down to the floor as the head master, for the first time actually, raised his voice as he sat in the chair behind his desk. He paused and Michael quickly looked up realizing that he was waiting for Michael to give him his full attention. “Here at Lincoln Preparatory we do not handle things like you are used to so if you think that pulling a stunt like you did before will get you expelled and free of this school you are sadly mistaken Mr. Clifford” the thought of breaking a rule bad enough to get out of this hell hole had crossed Michael’s mind once or twice but now the hope for that had gone down the drain.

Head master Monticello leaned forward and Michael felt like he was looking into his soul

“And the chances of you escaping the school grounds” Michael cringed at the word “escaping” it made him feel like he was in prison “are even slimmer. We have cameras in every room, hallway and on every light post outside. So what I want to make sure here is: Am I going to regret letting you into my school?” Michael aggressively began to shake his head.

“No. No sir”

“Good” he clapped as he stood up and Michael realized he was way too on edge when he nearly fell out his chair “Now here is your uniform” he handed Michael a black dress coat, a crimson collared shirt and black pants like he had seen earlier and Michael felt so under dressed in his white Van Halen shirt and dark blue jeans.

“You are never to wear this attire” he was pointing to Michael’s shirt “Ever again. Casual Friday’s are not a thing we participate in here at Lincoln Prep. Chapel is at 7:30, except on Friday’s when there is no Chapel, which you have missed, and you will be missing your first hour today as well but it starts at 8:30. I expect that you have received your schedule” Michael frantically pulled out the slip of paper that was in his jean pocket and the man took it like he didn’t want to actually be touching it. Michael tried not to roll his eyes as he only held it by the tips of his fingers as he looked at it over his glasses. “Very well. Our teachers here have just as high standards as I do so you will be expected to keep a B average or there will be consequences” Michael could barely even keep a D average at his old school and the only time he got C’s was when he tried his hardest. He knew that this school would be even tougher and it made him began to shake. He didn’t know how he would last a school year here.

He kept telling himself that his parents would enroll him back at a public school after this school year is over but he wasn’t even sure if that was true. All he could do was hope his parents would show some mercy after one year at this horrid school.

“Lunch is 30 minutes long and you are allowed to go outside by the pond but NO SWIMMING” Michael was about to make a smart ass remark about it being 40 degrees outside but again held his tongue. He was expecting that he would be doing that a lot during his time here. “I am sure that you will be informed on other things as your days here goes by but for now that is all” Michael let out a sigh of relief but cringed hoping the tall man wouldn’t take offense to it. He squinted at Michael then turned back to the window “But don’t think that I won’t be checking up on you from time to time. I’m always watching and I expect that you will stay clear of the….” Michael leaned over a little trying to see his face after the pause “Of the bad eggs, you might say, of the school”

“Bad egg’s sir?” Michael honestly didn’t know what he meant. He just assumed that all the students here behaved themselves 24/7 and that they never made any mistakes. He kind of expected himself to be the new trouble maker of the school, even though he had no intention of acting like he had at his old school. He figured what he did to get himself here would start getting around and soon every student would start judging him for it.

“Yes” he raised his voice but it wasn’t angry “There are few students who you will want to steer clear of. They are ones that continue to test me” Michael felt like he was talking about someone in particular and he wished he knew who it was so he could stay away from him “Well that will be all Mr. Clifford. You have 30 minutes to spare until 2nd period starts.

The Kurtwood dormitory is all the way across campus. I have one of my best students to show you where it is and help you get situated in your room and what not” the headmaster started to push buttons on the phone and leaned down to speak into it

“Ms. Kelly would you please send Mr. Hood in” Michael began to feel better knowing that he was almost done with having to sit in this tight room that he could barely breathe in but he was also scared of what this kid would be like. If he was the headmaster’s best student then Michael knew he was a brownnoser who lived to do well in school. He probably wanted to be a doctor or lawyer. The door began to creak open but Michael didn’t look back “Hello Calum. Michael...” he felt the headmaster glaring at him so Michael stood up and faced the door. “Michael this is Calum” the tan boy was reaching out a hand and Michael took it muttering a “nice to meet you” the boy just smiled wide and looked to the headmaster “Well I will let you two get acquainted” Michael began to walk towards the door just wanting to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. Calum walked out first and held the door for Michael. Outside the headmaster’s office the wall’s were now brick and the marble floor couldn’t possibly shine any more. 

“So you’re in the Kurtwood Dorm right?” the boys spoke happily as he looked back at Michael and Michael couldn’t understand how anyone here could be anything but miserable. He was already feeling miserable and his time here had barely even started.

“That’s right” They turned down to a wider hallway with a large archway and Michael began looking at all the gold trophies behind the glass case. They were mostly Swimming and Lacrosse ones , which were sports that weren’t even played at his school. He looked to his right to see a balcony overlooking a large pond and he could see from here that it had a thin layer of ice over it which made the headmaster’s rule of no swimming even more ridiculous.

Soon they were outside and Michael began to feel a little more relaxed but looked up and seen cameras moving as he walked and he was on edge again. The cold November air was burning his throat and he turned to look at the school from the outside. There were more windows than he expected and he could even see a teacher in one of the upstairs classrooms.

“I’m guessing that Monticello briefed you on all the rules?”

“Yup” Michael finally couldn’t hold in his sarcastic comments back any longer “I’m surprised were even allowed to breathe” he didn’t mean it to be funny at all but Calum did a laugh way louder than expected as he glanced at Michael. 

“Well it can be pretty rough here if you aren’t used to it but just stay on his good side and you’ll be fine” Michael was going to say that the school part of it was scaring him the most but he didn’t want to sound weak. The brown grass seemed to stretch for miles before it stopped at the woods and Michael couldn’t even see a road on the other side of them. He wondered how much of the woods were considered school grounds because it seemed a lot more calm out there and he knew he would have the need to get away from all of this.

“How much of the woods is part of the school grounds?” it was the first time Michael seemed genuinely curious

“None of it” Calum said sternly “We aren’t allowed in there”

“Guess I shouldn’t be surprised” Michael watched Calum slow down a bit and then he was standing right next to him.

“I mean there are students who go in there but nobody that I associate with. They’re the kids you want to stay away from” Michael realized that Calum was on the snobby side after all. 

“Yeah I’ve been informed on the ‘bad egg’s’” he cringed when he used the word “informed” and he hoped he wouldn’t start picking up their proper way of speaking. If he did ever get out of here he knew his friends back home would be freaked out and never want to speak to him again. It seemed like an exaggeration but Michael knew if he started picking up on their style of talking then he would pick up on other things too and becoming like the kids here scared him to death.

“Yeah they’re easy to spot” Calum said casually and Michael looked up to see that they were now in front of a wide two story building with a bunch of windows and next to the door read “Kurtwood Dormitory” This would be his new home and it was already creeping him out.

When Calum opened the door he was greeted by the smell of floor cleaner and some kind of fall candle. There was a whole row of doors in front of him and then to the left there was an archway with a large room full of couches but no TV. There were a few wooden bookshelves that matched the rest of the brown colored room and then a kitchen also inside the room.

It wasn’t homey at all and it just seemed like one of those model homes that no one lived in. He looked up to see Calum walking up the stairs so Michael hurried behind him before he seen a kid sat at a desk perched over his book also in the living room. He climbed the long flight of stairs watching his every step and when they got upstairs there was a long hallway on both sides of them full of doors just like the lower floor.

“What’s your door number again?” Michael put his uniform in his left arm as he fumbled the paper out of his pocket. 

“Oh um room 40”

“Room 40” Calum almost sang “Well you got lucky”

“Why’s that?” Michael didn’t know how he could possibly be lucky unless his roommate had a TV or something along the lines of that. Calum didn’t answer, instead he just let out a laugh and Michael was scared that he was being sarcastic. He looked into some of the rooms that had their doors open. Most of them were empty but some had kids lying on their beds and they would instantly look up at Michael, mostly giving him judgmental looks.

Calum stopped at the very last door of the hallway and Michael went around the corner a little to see that there were more doors on the left side of the hall and then another big room with couches across the hall. This one had a window that covered the entire back wall, overlooking the woods. Michael realized that he would probably spend a lot of time in there if his roommate turned out to be a total knob head that he couldn’t stand.

“Well here you are” Calum swung the door open and Michael hesitantly walked in. There were two single beds that were divided by two night stands and a bay window with a comfortable looking cushion next to it. The walls were a light brown that matched the thin carpeted floors and Michael sat at bed on the left side that he could tell wasn’t occupied.

The other bed had the covers thrown halfway off of it and there was a coffee cup on the left night stand and also a glasses case. Michael didn’t meant to make the assumption that all people who wore glasses were nerds but he couldn’t help but picture his roommate being one of those people who spent all his free time studying at the desk in the corner of the room as Michael tried to make light conversation with him.

“You’re roommate is actually a friend of mine so you didn’t get stuck with one of the Kurtwood Weirdo’s” the thought of being roomed with one of Calum’s snobby friends made him actually wish that one of the ‘Kurtwood Weirdo’s’ were his roommate instead, even though Michael wasn’t even sure what Calum meant by that.

“Um ‘Kurtwood Weirdo’s’?” Michael tossed his uniform clothes on the pillow and dreaded the moment when he had to put them on. He felt like he would be selling his soul the moment he stepped into those dress pants.

“Well Kurtwood is known for having a few…odd residents you might say. I mean at least none of the troublemakers are in this dorm. They’re all conveniently in the Blitz Dormitory and sadly it’s right next door” Calum pointed out the window at the stone building. It was the only stone building he had seen so far because all the others had been brick. Michael was about to ask about the kids in the Blitz Dorm but he realized he should be more concerned about the kids in his in own dorm.

“But what’s odd about the ones here?” Calum took a seat on the other bed and took a deep breath. 

“Well there’s the Frog Man. I swear I’m not making this up but he carries his pet frog around all day in his little fanny pack he has” Michael couldn’t help but laugh at that “So if you see a kid with a fanny pack well…that’s frog man. Then there’s Johnny. He is always in charge of the Saturday night poker games and he will take you for all you’ve got. He lives for poker and he always wins so don’t ever agree to play him unless you want to lose all your money” Michael was nodding even though he had no intention of playing poker.

He suddenly noticed that there was a guy leaning against the doorway smirking at Calum. Michael was a bit smitten if he was being honest. To say the least, the boy was gorgeous. He had sandy colored curly hair that stayed right above his ears and somehow his skin was still darkly tanned by the sun. Although his round glasses still gave him that preppy boy look

“Now luckily both of them are on the first floor but the one I’m about to tell you about is right across the hall” Michael focused back on Calum and had forgotten that he was even talking. Calum looked out the hallway and the door across from them was wide open. 

“He’s in the kitchen” the boy at the doorway spoke and he was still smiling. He hadn’t stopped since he appeared and Michael guessed that he was just a smiley guy.

“Okay good. Anyways Lucian is the one you really have to watch out for” Michael already hated his name “because he’s a thief. I can’t even tell you how many things I’ve had stolen by that kid and I’ve talked to Monticello about getting locks on our doors but he’s against it so if you have anything valuable you have to hide it” Michael really didn’t have anything valuable but he still appreciated Calum telling him about this. The kid at the door shook his head a little then he was walking into the room picking random clothes off the floor.

“I’m Ashton by the way” he reached out a hand and Michael shook it.

“Michael” he managed to stutter out.

“Sorry it’s such a mess in here” Ashton giggled. He actually giggled and then it hit him that this was his new roommate. Ashton wasn’t how he pictured at all and felt like they would get along just fine.

“Don’t worry about it” Michael really didn’t think it was messy at all. It was nothing compared to his room back at home.

“Well I’ll get out of here” Calum said standing up and patting Ashton on the shoulder. Ashton gave him a nod then got on his bed and leaned against the headboard with a book on his lap. It seemed like he was going to say something to Michael but then a nervous looking kid appeared in the doorway.

“Hey um Ashton did you-“

“It’s on the desk” Ashton used a very unfriendly voice as he pointed at the desk and the kid walked over there with his head down. He grabbed a piece of paper that had typed words on it then he was taking a 20 out of back pocket.

“Where do you want-“ then Ashton was reaching his hand out and the kid put the money in his hand before Ashton stuffed it into his pocket and went back to reading his book and the kid rushed out of the room. Michael had no idea what had just happened but he didn’t want to ask either.

“So what’s your 2nd period?” thankfully his friendly voice was back and Michael shuffled on the bed.

“It’s History with…Mr. O’Riley” Ashton put the book under his arm before getting up and walking towards the door. 

“I’ll walk you there but you better get dressed if we want to get there on time” he shot Michael a smile before getting a kids attention that was walking past him. Michael huffed and slipped out of his clothes before getting into his uniform then putting on the black shoes at the edge of the bed. He was glad that there wasn’t a mirror in his room because he didn’t dare want to see himself dressing like this. He made sure to grab his schedule and them met Ashton outside their door “Now you’re looking like a true Lancer” Ashton reached out to fix Michael’s collar a little then he was leading him down the hallway.

Every student that they passed would acknowledge Ashton in some way and the hallway was a lot more packed than it was before. They all carried a least 3 books each under their arms and Michael actually felt himself getting nervous once they stepped outside. He knew these teachers would automatically hate him like his old ones did and plus he knew the school work would absolutely kill him. He began to think that maybe if he flunked enough classes then he would be kicked out but then he remembered how serious the headmaster was when he was saying how hard it was to get expelled from this school.

Now the sidewalks going from one building to another were filled with passing students and Michael tried not to make too much eye contact with him. Instead he looked back to glance at the Blitz Dorm that Calum had mentioned earlier. There were three boys lounging back on the steps in front of it and they actually looked like the type of kids Michael would hang around with at his old school. They kept laughing with each other and one of them put the other in headlock. Even though Calum tried to tell him that he was lucky for not getting stuck in the Blitz Dorm Michael wished he would have been.

He noticed that Ashton had gone ahead of him quite a bit so Michael caught up with him and they walked back into the main building of the school “Here we are. Room 205” Ashton smiled as they stood just outside the nearly empty classroom. “Can I see your schedule real quick?” Michael nodded since Ashton only seemed to have good intentions and he handed it over. He watched Ashton look it over “Well all your classes are in this building and on this floor so you’re lucky there. Except for your last period which is gym. That’s in the natatorium and I actually have P.E that period too so I’ll see you then” That was a relief that Michael would at least have one class with Ashton but it also meant swimming and that wasn’t exactly his favorite thing to do. A few kids pushed past Michael and now the room was filling up more. 

“Well I’ll see ya” Michael said quietly. He didn’t exactly want to go in but Ashton seemed distracted by something behind him. 

“You’ll do fine” Ashton patted him on the shoulder before he was gone. He must have sensed that Michael was nervous and Michael took a deep breath before entering the classroom. There was an empty desk way at the back corner by the window and Michael hurried towards it. He felt a few kids giving him weird looks but he continued looking out the window. There was some laughing and quiet conversations going on but everything went dead silent as the teacher walked in. He was a short man, way shorter than Michael but this guy looked very intimidating. Michael had a feeling that all this teachers would be a little bit scary.

“Quiet down!” Michael jumped and furrowed his eyebrows since no one was even talking “Your assignment today will be a 5,000 word essay on a historic person that I assign to you. Handwritten” Michael already felt like he just wanted to jump out the window and the teacher began putting a slip of paper on everyone’s desk but paused and when he got to Michael and looked him up and down “And who might you be?” Michael felt like his dark eyes were burning a hole in his face.

“Michael Clifford” he quickly said and he looked around to see every single student’s eyes locked on him.

“Ah. The new student. Stop by my desk at the end of class for all the assignments you’ve missed” as soon as the teacher had his back turned Michael briefly let his head fall. This was going to be a long day.

*

As the day went by all his teachers seemed to get even more terrifying and more books appeared in his arms. He didn’t understand why they weren’t given either more time to go put their books in their rooms or lockers like every other school had. He also never understood why the teachers wouldn’t let them go to the bathroom during class. Michael actually thought that this rule bordered on child abuse as he crossed his legs in his chair desperately trying not to piss his pants. He ran out of the classroom faster than anyone and didn’t even care what people thought. Luckily there was a bathroom right across the hall and he had to remind himself to not drink so much water during the day.

During lunch he sat on bench away from everyone else that was facing the pond and he didn’t even care if he would be labeled the loner. He didn’t feel like he had any strength in him to try and make friends. Plus the way that Calum had everyone labeled he was afraid that he would choose the wrong crowd or become friends with one of the “Kurtwood Weirdo’s’ and that was the last thing he needed. He slowly ate his turkey sandwich and chugged down his milk but he had to remind himself not to drink too much.

There were a few kids tossing a football back and forth and they had thrown their dress coats to the ground. Michael shivered just thinking about having his off. Next to the main building there were students sitting against the wall and one was laying down looking like he was pointing up to the clouds. Calum and Ashton were nowhere in sight but Michael had no idea if this school had several different lunch periods. He began to actually look forward to gym class because at least he wouldn’t have to sit in a desk or stare at anymore books.

*

When his last period did come around he felt like he had searched all over campus before finding the pool in a high ceiling building next to the woods on the West side of the school grounds. It was away from everything else and for some reason gave off more of a laid back feel. The school flag, the American flag and just a plain white flag, that Michael was sure didn’t have meaning at all, was in front of the building and he knew he was already late so he ran into the doors. He stood in a small breezeway that had windows on all sides of it and opened another set of doors before seeing one of the biggest pools he’s ever seen.

There were four diving boards on the far side of it and half of it was divided by sections like he had only seen in the Olympics. The entire place was covered in ceiling to wall windows and there was a bench that stretched all the way around the wall. The smell of chlorine was actually comforting and he seen a couple boys with their legs in the pool while the others were sitting on the concrete bench and that was when he spotted Ashton. He did a sigh of relief then made his way towards him.

“Am I going to get in huge trouble for being late?” Micahel was slightly kidding but also genuinely worried that he would get detention or worse for not showing up on time. Ashton giggled and put one arm around him.

“Nah you’re golden. Chovenack isn’t even here yet” Michael quickly nodded and realized that everyone else was in their short swim shorts. He cringed picturing himself in them “Oh I left a pair of shorts for you in the locker room and your locker is number 45”

“Alright. Thanks” Michael nodded over his shoulder before seeing an archway next to where he came in and guessed it was the locker room. Luckily it was and he quickly undressed before looking himself in the big mirror and he felt freezing. He didn’t think that he had ever swam during this time of year. It seemed unnatural. He stuffed his other clothes in his locker and dreaded going back out here looking like this.

Ashton looked like some kind of god with his abs and tanned skin and all the others looked pretty much the same. Michael grabbed a towel, throwing it over his shoulder, then made his way back out to the pool area. Ashton was now standing with one other guy near the far wall and Michael felt like a lost puppy always being near him but he just didn’t know anyone else. Ashton greeted him with a smile and it made him feel better.

“You cold kid?” Ashton giggled out and Michael just nodded “Well don’t worry. The water is really warm and since we’re the last period Chovenack always lets us fool around a bit in the pool after class. This class will be a breeze compared to all your other ones”

“Thank god ” he breathed out and Ashton seemed to understand

“It’ll get better. The first day is always the worst”

“Alright. Attendance!” the booming voice echoed throughout the room and Michael turned around to see a bald man with shorts and a white t-shirt on. He looked like the typical gym teacher and that made Michael relax. He seemed to be more down to earth than his other teachers. He began saying off names and Michael sat back on the bench when he seen that Ashton had. “Michael Clifford?” he shouted but also made it more of a question than the others.

“Here!” Michael put his hand up and the teacher finally locked his eyes on him.

“Okay. The new transfer” he muttered then went on with the attendance. Michael was actually glad that he didn’t make some big scene out of it like the others had but kids were still glancing at him and wondering who he was. Michael noticed that the teacher was about to say another name but then he glanced around and looked upset before he said the next name “Irwin!”

“Yeah” Ashton said lazily as he leaned back with his head against the glass of the window. Chovenack didn’t even spare a glance at him and read off more names. When he seemed to be done he put his hands on his hips and took a few looks around at the kids. 

“Alright. Where the hell is Hemmings?” Michael seen some students smile and shake their heads but Ashton and the kid next to him were rolling their eyes. Michael realized it was the first time he had heard anyone swear all day and the reason he had kept his mouth clear of curse words was because he thought it wasn’t allowed. It probably wasn’t. The teacher still stood there tapping his foot and looking around “Has anyone seen Hemmings?” everyone was shaking their heads.

“Who cares” Ashton muttered next to him and Michael could see that he really didn’t like this Hemmings guy. 

“I hope you guys haven’t started this shindig without me” everyone turned their heads to the voice and in came a tall blonde boy with sunglasses on even though Michael was sure that the sun hadn’t been out all day. Not only was his dress shirt untucked from his pants but it was also entirely unbuttoned so that his pale torso was showing and his coat was thrown over his shoulder. This look would have looked absolutely ridiculous on anyone else but this kid was somehow pulling it off without looking like a douche. His blonde hair was styled perfectly into a slightly erect position and he was still chewing on something in his mouth that was clearly not gum.

“This is the 3rd time this week Hemmings” Chovenack groaned as he watched Luke stroll over to the locker room. The blond turned around and took another bite out of the hotdog in his hand. 

“You know three times really isn’t that bad” Michael widened his eyes and couldn’t believe he was sassing the teacher like this “Three is actually a very good number. If I remember right Martin Luther King-“

“It’s only Wednesday” the teacher seemed to be completely unaffected by the boy and he used the same dry tone that he had been using the second this kid walked in.

“You’re right. My tardiness is uncalled for and I should be punished” most of the other kids had stopped looking at him and carried on with their own conversations, which must have meant that this was a regular thing, but Michael still couldn’t tear his eyes away from him.

“Well you know the drill: Report to detention tomorrow at lunch. Now go get dressed” All he did was nod before opening the locker room door “And don’t piss around in there Hemmings!” the blond saluted him before disappearing and a few laughs echoed in the room.

“What a waste of space” Ashton said in an angry tone under his breath again then he was talking to the boy in glasses on the other side of him. Michael still felt himself staring at the locker room door and also wondered why Ashton had such a problem with this Hemmings guy. Sure he seemed to have an ego but Ashton didn’t seem like the type of person to hate people. Yet again, Michael had only known him for a couple of hours. The teacher still stood there looking down at his clipboard and Michael relaxed against the window guessing that they were waiting for Hemmings. There were only 10 kids here all together so it was a rather small class compared to his others who had 30 or more students. The teacher seemed to be getting impatient and he looked up finally.

“Alright! Everyone in the pool. Let’s do some laps” Michael groaned at the word “laps” because it meant exerting energy and also swimming wasn’t exactly his forte. He let a lot of the other kids walk in front of him and get into their own individual section of the pool then Michael took the one of the far end. He knew he would be the slowest of the group so the less people that seen him, the better.

Ashton was right: the water was extremely warm and Michael felt himself relaxing in it and resting his shoulders against the pool wall. Suddenly the whistle was being blown and all the others dived forward and began swimming so Michael did too. After one lap he could feel his arms burning but all the other kids seemed to be in great shape and they swam with absolute ease. Ashton especially looked like he had done a lot of swimming with his expert like form and the way he was ahead of everyone else. Michael had to remind himself that this was a lot better than sitting in a depressing classroom listening to a lecture and his eyes caught something on the right side of him. Hemmings was jumping into the water a few sections down from him but he had no time to actually see what he looked like in his shorts but Michael was sure he looked better in them than he did. Michael’s were a bit lose on him and fit him quite awkwardly.

He tried to swim at a steady pace while also keeping his eyes on the blond boy who was actually going a lot faster than Ashton. He watched him go under water then come up and splash the kid on the left of him and the kid laughed before diving under the rope dividing his and Hemmings sections and bringing the blond underwater. They had some kind of splash fight and then the teacher was blowing his whistle

“Hemmings! Porter! I shouldn’t constantly have to tell you two to stay in your lanes” The blond gave the other one more splash then the other returned to his lane “Alright, take a breather” Michael stopped in the middle of the pool to try and catch his breath and then he slowly swam to the wall to rest against it. Other kids began to get out and sit on the edge so he did too. The air was cold on him but it felt good since he had gotten so overheated. His body just couldn’t settle on a temperature because soon he was shivering and getting back in the water.

He leaned his head back and turned to see the blond and the other boy he was splashing sitting side by side. Michael felt like a little bit of creep but he found himself looking the boys torso up and down as it glowed under the lights as little droplets of water dripped down him. His once before perfect hair was now messy and a thick strand was hanging against his forehead. He must have felt it because he ran his hand through his hair and continued to look out the window in front of them

“How’d you do?” Michael snapped out of it to see Ashton standing above him

“Terrible. I feel like I’m dying” Michael really did feel exhausted but Ashton let out a laugh and sat on the edge so Michael got out once against to join him. 

“Swimming not your thing?”

“Not at all. Is it yours?” Michael could already tell that it was but he didn’t want Ashton to know that he had watched him swim for a little while but to be honest he was mostly keeping his eyes on the blond boy.

“Yeah” Ashton rubbed his face “I’m actually on the swim team” that made sense and Michael just nodded before returning his eyes to the blonde merely because he didn’t know where else to look and somehow his eyes kept falling on him. He was now standing up with his arms crossed on his chest as he seemed to be explaining something. “And this class actually ends sooner than the other ones so were about done here”

“Like how soon?” Michael said probably too fast.

“Well the class is only 40 minutes so another 10 minutes or so” Michael was about to say how much he actually loved this class but then the whistle was being blown again. 

“Back in the pool” Michael and Ashton jumped in at the same time and waited for further instructions. They really only ended up goofing off for the remainder of the class and Michael was really happy about it. He knew this class would kind of be his safe haven where he could relax and not have to worry about more essays and lengthy lectures and it helped that Ashton was in the class also.

Most of the boys had started changing when Michael got to the locker room and he couldn’t help but feel a little shy about changing in front of these people that he didn’t even know. He slowly took his clothes out of his locker and thought that if he moved slow enough people would start to be done and start leaving the locker room. He heard a few showers going and thought about just taking a shower and then changing behind the curtain. That seemed like a solid idea so Michael made his way towards the shower and quickly rinsed off without even taking his swimming trunks off. He had his other clothes sitting on the dry bench in the shower and dried off with his towel before he slipped his other clothes on.

When he was back in the open area there were only 4 other guys and one of them was the kid that was goofing off with Hemmings earlier. Michael seen that Ashton had already left so he made his way over to the basket to throw his towel and swim trunks in there when he heard a whistle. It was the kind of whistle he would hear guys doing to girls on the street and he turned around to see the blond boy walking out of the shower area completely naked. Michael’s widened eyes looked up and down his body and he knew he was being a creep but it was like he physically couldn’t look away. Now the blonde was confidently walking over to the mirror and Michael let his eyes wonder down to his ass and he felt like the temperature in the room had gone up significantly. The boy started to fix his Hair and stand there casually like he wasn’t even naked in front of 5 other guys. His back muscles were so intoxicating and Michael just wanted to run his hands all over him. He didn’t know why he was having these feelings about a kid he barely even knew, hell he didn’t even know his first name but he was beautiful. That was one thing Michael was sure of.

Michael was letting his eyes drift back up the boy’s body and then it felt like his heart had just jumped up into this throat. He knew his face was beat red as the blond was now looking straight at him in the mirror and his lips moved up slightly like there was a smile not too far behind but then his face went still and he was going back to putting his fingers in his hair and focusing on himself. Michael finally looked away even though he really didn’t want to and shut his locker before exiting the room.


	2. Day 2

“Michael” he felt a hand shaking his arm “Wake up” Michael began to open his eyes and all he could see was a dark figure above him and for a second he couldn’t even remember where he was. The lamp light was then lighting up the room and Michael rolled back over and pushed his face into the pillow

“What time is it?”

“It’s 6:30 am” Michael could hear Ashton shuffling around the room and then he was opening the closet and Michael felt something hitting the end of his bed “We’ve got Chapel remember?”

“Fuck” Michael finally sat up and tried adjusting his eyes to the light as he just sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed his uniform that Ashton had thrown at him

“I woke you up early because I didn’t know if you wanted to take a shower or not. I’m heading down there right now” Ashton was already fully dressed and seemed like he had been wide awake for hours. Michael nodded and quickly began undressing. He didn’t exactly feel like walking through the dorm halls wearing only his underwear so he put his uniform on and Ashton looked like he was growing impatient so Michael hurried to meet him at the door and they walked down the brightly lighted halls. It was actually hurting Michael’s eyes by how bright it was and he couldn’t even believe his body functioned this early in the morning. There were a few kids coming up the stairs nodding at Ashton and then they turned right when they got to the bottom of the stairs.

Michael hadn’t been to this part of the dorm yet since there were bathrooms upstairs but those ones didn’t have showers. They turned into this large room, similar to the locker room, and since it was just him and Ashton Michael stripped out of his clothes and then grabbed a towel before walking into a shower. He almost fell asleep when he leaned against the wall with the hot water running down his body and then he heard a few kids shouting and laughing loudly and he hurried and washed his hair and body before slipping back out. Now the shower room was filled with at least 10 more people and Ashton was sitting on the counter next to the sinks as Calum stood in front of him. Michael quickly made his way towards his clothes and hid around one of the little walls before letting his towel go and getting in his uniform that he already hated.

“Aye Michael!” Michael turned around and Calum was waving him over. His bare feet hit the cold tile floor as he went over to them “How was your first day?” the only words coming to his head were: Terrible, awful, exhausting and he was also convinced that this place was actually just a prison disguised as a school .

“Oh it was good. P.E is cool” the last part was actually him being honest but the reason he liked gym so much was because of the hot naked blond boy that would walk around the locker room. Michael wondered how he had the confidence to do that but didn’t question it. They were all just smiling and nodding at him and it made Michael feel uncomfortable so he just looked down at the floor and then went to go put his socks and shoes on

“Michael, do you want to go catch some breakfast?” Ashton appeared next to him. Michael nodded and they went back out to the living room area. There was a kid sitting on the windowsill writing something on a notebook and everyone else was sitting on the couches as they slurped on coffee and seemed like they were in some kind of debate. It all seemed very boring and it was something Michael thought would go on in nursing homes, not a school for teenage boys. These boys really were a different breed. “Coffee?”

“Oh. No. No thanks” Michael wasn’t a fan of coffee…at all and all he wanted right now was some blueberry pancakes but he knew that probably wasn’t realistic “Well we’ve got toast, toast” Ashton giggled “And toast”

“Guess I’ll be having toast” Michael didn’t mind toast but he knew it wouldn’t keep him held over until lunch. Hell, it wouldn’t hold him over until 2nd period. Ashton and Michael settled on one of the empty couches and instantly a lanky kid with his pants pulled up way too high came nervously walking up to Ashton

“Uh hi Ashton” Michael watched Ashton taking his time eating his toast and taking sips of his coffee until he was finally looking up at the boy

“Can I help you?” Michael began to wonder if Ashton was only friendly with certain people. When he had first met him Michael guessed that he was one of those guys who were just friendly with everyone. He knew he was wrong about that now. The geeky looking boy fumbled with his hands in his pockets for a second while Ashton went back to sipping his coffee and looking elsewhere

“Um so I have a history paper due this Friday on the topic of The Cold War and-“

“How many words?” Ashton still didn’t seem interested but his voice was louder now

“Oh it’s supposed to be 3k-“

“3k? That’s it?” the boy looked like he was about to explode from being so nervous and he kept putting his hand through his hair

“You’re right” he let out a forced laugh “I-I should just do it on my own. I’m-“ Ashton waved a hand in the direction of the door of the living room and the kid scampered away like a dog with a tail between its legs “Sorry” he shot back

“Jesus Christ” he muttered then giggled when the kid was completely gone “Freshmen”

*

He pulled his sleeves over his hands as they got outside and it was still barely light out. There were dark clouds behind the trees and the lights from the classrooms began to switch on. People began to shuffle onto the sidewalk behind them and they cut across the grass as the church bells were going off. The wind seemed to pick up as they got closer to the Chapel and there was a man in a suit holding the door open for people. They walked up the steps and Ashton shook hands with him but Michael avoided it by slipping past him, acting like he didn’t see him. Warm air washed over him the second they stepped into the building and the entrance way was dimly lit with an orange and red tint to it.

When they stepped into the church area Michael looked up at the high ceiling and stained glass windows. Candles were lit all along the alter and almost all the pew’s were filled. He watched as Ashton walked ahead of him and looked to the left and right trying to find them a spot. There was a faint sound of whispering every now and then but other than that it was completely silent except for the fountain in the front that was pouring water into a small pool. It was a soothing noise and Michael was afraid he would fall asleep if they had to sit in silence like this for too long.

Ashton looked back to Michael as they slid into the 4th pew back and Michael did the same so that he was sitting on the end. He began to look at all the other students and all of them were looking straight ahead as their posture was perfect but as he looked across the aisle at the other set of pew’s he seen one kid bent over with one knee on the pew as he talked to someone behind him. It only took Michael a second to see that it was the blond kid. Now he had his dress coat on and he made a funny face before erupting into a silent laugh as he put his face in his arm and Michael hadn’t even realized that he let out a quiet laugh himself until Ashton was elbowing him

“What’s funny?” he had a slight smile on his face and Michael looked back to Hemmings who was now sitting sideways in his seat with his arm resting on the back of it as he looked fascinated with something on the ceiling

“Nothing” Michael whispered back to Ashton before facing the front again. He wasn’t going to let this kid, once again, catch him staring. Suddenly music began to echo throughout the room and Michael stood up like everyone else was. He couldn’t even remember the last time he was in church so he had no idea how this would go but he did remember it dragging on for what seemed like forever.

A short stubby man, that Michael expected to be the priest, walked onto the alter and started reading off words from a book that Michael couldn’t understand at all. The guy had a very thick British accent and that didn’t help either.

When another song started Michael seen everyone around him singing and let his eyes drift back over to the blond who’s mouth wasn’t moving. He was just staring blankly at the big cross above the alter and it had been the first time Michael had seen him look unhappy. He bit at his lip a little when he moved his eyes to look at the priest and then the song came to an end.

Michael didn’t understand why it had become a habit for him to just watch this kid’s every move and why It was always so hard for him to look away.

When they were allowed to sit back down Michael grabbed a book out of the little shelf in front of him and just began looking through the pages having to occupy himself with something. He was tired of just spacing out and then always finding his way back to the blond.

By the end of the service Ashton seemed to be distracted by something as everyone was walking out of their pew’s and suddenly the voices were a lot louder than when they walked in. 

“I’ll catch up with you later okay?” Michael just nodded at him and let him walk in front of him. He watched Ashton push his way through the crowd in the middle of the two sides of pew’s. When he got back out into the entrance way he finally took his eyes off the floor and seen that the blonde was directly in front of him. He had never been this close to him and he almost felt like bumping into him to get his attention and then playing it off like an accident. He just need to feel the boys eyes on him again. The priest was now just outside the door shaking hands with everyone and the blond gave his hand a firm shake with a big smile on his face but the priest didn’t look as enthused

“God bless you” the blond shot out in probably the fakest nice voice Michael had ever heard and he felt himself smiling. Michael seen the priest watching the blond skip down the steps and then Michael shook his hand and quickly made his way onto the sidewalk below. The blond had stopped to talk to a group of 5 other boys off in the grass and then he turned and to look past Michael before letting his eyes lock on him just as he was walking past. Michael had his eyes low as he walked past him and then the blond was putting a hand on his chest. Michael jumped at the contact and the blond stepped in front of him

“Hello, would you mind telling me about this morning’s sermon?” The blonds’ voice sounded different than before; more proper like everyone else’s and Michael had to be honest, he didn’t even know what a sermon was but he guessed it had to do with the Chapel service and he hadn’t paid attention to even a quarter of it.

“Yeah I uh…I can’t help you there” Michael felt his cheeks heat up when the boy’s face instantly turned into a grin then he was turning back to his friends

“See! I’m not the only one who can’t understand a word that old bastard says” now his voice was the way Michael remembered from before and he smiled when he realized that the boy was just imitating the way most of the other boys here spoke. A couple of the boy’s friends began to eye Michael and he cursed to himself when he noticed he was still just standing there so he shuffled down the sidewalk after he took one last look at the blond who was jumping in place with his hands in his pants pockets. At least the boy had talked to him and that was enough to get him through the rest of the day.

By the time lunch came around Michael now claimed his spot to be sitting on the balcony right on top of the brick flat surface with one leg on each side of it overlooking the big grass area. He felt more relaxed up here and plus there was barely anyone around him. He took big bites out of the dry chicken patty that he wouldn’t have eaten at all if it weren’t for him being so starving.

The air seemed to be colder than the day before and Michael knew that it wouldn’t be long until snow started to fall. He always found himself looking forward to the first snowfall of the year merely because it was something different but by the 2nd week of it he was already sick of it. He glanced up to see a short chubby kid chowing down on a banana making his way right towards Michael and then the boy was waving. Michael looked behind him to make sure the kid wasn’t waving at someone else (he hoped he was) but there was no one in sight so he put on his best smile and waved back and that was when he looked down to see a fanny pack around his waist

“Shit” Michael mumbled before putting his spoon in his applesauce

“Hi. You’re Ashton’s new roommate” Michael looked up and nodded even though the kid wasn’t asking him if he was “I’m Robbie and this is…” Michael watched him closely as he unzipped his fanny pack and sure enough pulled out a frog the size of his whole hand “This is Warty. Which of course is because he has so many warts on him well I am pretty sure they are warts” he began petting the back of the frog and Michael felt himself getting less and less hungry the more this kid and his frog hung around him “Yes they are for sure warts but you can pet him if you want” the boys was putting the frog way too close to Michael’s food and all he wanted to do was grab the frog and throw it down to the sidewalk below.

“I’m alright. Thanks”

“He doesn’t bite” he was now putting the frog only inches from Michael’s face

“Really, I’m fine. Frogs aren’t my thing” he could see the growing frown on the kids face.

“Well maybe they would be if you gave them a chance” Michael was really starting to lose his patience and he never dreamed that the kid would be this weird and annoying. His braces looked like they still had food in them and Michael felt himself almost gagging. “They really are fascinating and just the way they breed and-“

“Robbie!” Michael let out a breath as he could hear someone walking behind him. He was only seconds away from punching the geek in the face “It’s getting a bit cold. How about you put Warty back yeah?” and Michael recognized that voice and then the blond was appearing next to him as he reached forward unzipping the boys fanny pack “I think he would be a lot better off in there. Don’t you?”

“Yeah-yeah you’re right Luke. He is probably a bit chilly” it was the first time he seen the nerdy boy get nervous and then it hit him that he now knew the blond’s first name. He kept repeating the name in his head.

“Yeah it’s just too cold for his little body to handle. Oh wait…”

“What? What’s wrong, Luke?” Robbie said sounding terrified as Luke got down to eye level with the frog still in Robbie’s hand.

“Oh my lord. Oh no” Luke put his hand over his mouth and continued to look at the frog.

“What’s wrong with him? Luke?” Robbie seemed like he was close to tears now and Michael watched Luke’s every move as he put his hands on his hips and shook his head

“His pupils are dilated and his skin is clammy” Luke put both hands on Robbie’s shoulders “Robbie stay calm but…Warty is going into Hypothermic shock” Luke had that same fake tone as he did when he was speaking to the priest and he realized it was also the same one he used with the P.E teacher. This was all an act and Michael felt like he could burst out laughing but he stayed quiet as Robbie seemed to panic and kept trying to open the frogs’ mouth.

“No! I can’t lose him! Tell me what to do” now he seemed like he was begging and his voice was a lot more quieter.

“Go back to your dorm and put him in warm water. Then you’ll have to give him mouth to mouth” Michael had to press his lips together to avoid completely losing it.

“But if you give him too much air into his lungs then it could cause him to explode okay? If none of that works then hold him by his back legs and swing him back and forth and he should be fine. You just have to find a way to bring up his body temperature”

“But-but Luke what if none of that works? What do I do then?” he was speaking so fast that Michael could barely understand him and now there actually were tears in his eyes.

“Well then its bye bye Warty” Luke made his voice sound sad and then he was crossing his arms “Now go on back to your dorm. You’re wasting time”

“Of course!” Robbie nodded and turning around and sprinted down the balcony. Luke did a chuckle as the boy turned the corner fast and almost fell down the stairs then he was facing Michael and reaching a hand out.

“Hi. Luke Hemmings” Michael felt like he couldn’t breathe as the blue eyes were looking back at him and then he couldn’t help but let out the laugh he had been holding in the second Luke got there.

“Michael Clifford” Michael shook his hand and was wiping the tears from his face. He was honestly in shock and didn’t know what to say about what just happened but he also didn’t want Luke to walk away “That was uh…that was really something”

“Well I guess Robbie doesn’t know as much about frogs as everyone thinks he does” Michael tilted his head a little not knowing what he meant “Every single word of that was complete bullshit” Luke smiled wide as he looked down at the kids playing soccer in the grass below them “I honestly don’t even think frog’s have pupils” his focus was back on Michael.

“Well I appreciate you spewing all that bullshit out” Michael smiled when Luke huffed out, ending it with a small laugh.

“Anytime” he did a crooked smile then winked at Michael before walking past him. Michael felt the butterflies in this stomach begin to form and then he was turning around to watch Luke walk away as he whistled to himself. Michael kept trying to come up with something to shout to him to make him come back but he felt speechless but then it hit him that Luke was supposed to be in detention and he shook his head in disbelief.

*

Michael was curled up with a blanket by the bay window trying to focus on reading a book for his book report but he couldn’t stop thinking about where Luke could have been during gym class. He expected him to be late since it seemed to be a typical thing for him but Michael was surprised when half of the class had gone by and he was still nowhere in sight.

The room seemed quieter and less interesting without him but Michael figured he did have better things to do. Michael would skip too if he knew he could get away with it. Across the room two guys were playing fooze ball and making too much noise for Michael to concentrate. The red haired kid on the couch kept humming and slurping his coffee way louder than necessary and Michael began to wonder how anyone got anything done with all the annoying noises going on around him. Maybe he was just irritable because he didn’t get to see Luke when he thought he would. Ashton walked in a few minutes later with two other boys

“Hey Mike” Michael hadn’t heard someone call him that since he was back at his old school and honestly he didn’t think Ashton had earned the right to call him that yet but he shrugged it off “Tomorrow were going into town. Would you want to come?” the other boys were giving him strange looks and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be stuck around people that didn’t exactly seem to like him

“You mean we can leave?” Michael thought they were just stuck here until the end of the year. Most of the kids here seemed to be so out of touch with the outside world that he just didn’t think they were allowed to leave

“Well yeah” Michael really didn’t like the way Ashton and his friends laughed at him “We can leave on Friday’s, Saturday’s and Sunday’s. So you up for it?”

“Yeah, Probably” Michael didn’t want to give him a definite answer because he tended to change his mind about things

“Alright I’ll take that as a yes” Ashton clapped his hands and Michael forced a smile and went back to his book. He could see Ashton and his friends going to sit on a couch close to him then a few laughs and muttering erupted making the almost silent room seem loud. Michael still kept his eyes wanting to hurry up and finish this chapter

“Who let you in here?” some kid said curiously

“Fucking Santa Clause” Michael whipped his head up to see none other than Luke Hemmings strolling into the kitchen with a cigarette sticking out the side of his mouth and everyone in the room was looking at him as he stood in the kitchen seeming like he was looking for something. Then he was opening cupboards and taking out the can of coffee and pouring it into the coffee machine. Michael didn’t even realize he had a smile on his face. You could tell that everyone in the room was tempted to say something to him but they were all keeping their mouths shut…for now.

“Hemmings what are you doing in here?” one of Ashton’s friends said in a snotty tone. Luke finished what he was doing then put the cigarette between two of his fingers and blew out a puff of smoke towards the ceiling before looking at the kid who spoke

“What does it look like I’m doing?” the kid opened his mouth a few times, wanting to respond but then his face just looked blank. Ashton was still glaring at Luke as he sat on the counter waiting for the coffee to be done. Michael began to feel restless just watching Luke in there when he could easily walk over to him and start a conversation so he threw his blanket on the couch earning a look from Ashton then quickly walked into the kitchen before he could back out of it. He knew everyone was staring at him as he approached Luke but for some reason he liked having eyes on him while he was doing this

“Who the hell drinks coffee at 7pm?” Michael said in fake snotty tone. Luke took a double look at him then he grinned wide, changing his position on the counter so he was facing Michael and he took the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked the ashes to the floor

“Someone who has a very twisted sleep schedule” Luke looked past Michael for a moment “But coffee doesn’t actually keep you up. It’s a strange concept” he took a deep breath and got ready to go on a rant “Here’s the thing: it’s all in your head. If you tell yourself that something will keep you up then it will. If you tell yourself that something will make you sleepy then it will. It’s that simple”

“Yeah? Now how much of that was bullshit?” Michael teased and he didn’t know where this confidence was coming from

“All of it” Luke did his crooked grin and took another drag of his cigarette “I can’t fool you can I, Clifford?”

“Nope”

“I like that” Luke briefly raised his eyebrows and pointed at Michael and it made him get that feeling in his stomach again. The coffee maker began making a beeping noise and Luke jumped off the counter and began pouring some into his mug “Our coffee maker broke so I figured I would come and get some from my dear neighbors but apparently I’m not welcome here” that made Michael wish that people would have been nicer to Luke but then Luke had a cocky look on his face as he drank his coffee and he realized that maybe Luke liked the attitude and dirty looks he was getting from people in here.

Some people fed off being liked and others fed off being disliked. Ashton seemed to be a person that needed to be liked but it was obvious that Luke didn’t give a shit whether people liked him or not. But then it had hit Michael that Luke just basically said that he was in the Blitz dorm. He really wasn’t surprised though.

“So you’re from the Blitz Dorm” Michael drifted off “What’s it like over there?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” and then Luke was walking backwards towards the door of the kitchen. Michael had almost forgotten what it felt like to be excited but when Luke was looking at him with that hopeful look in his eyes he remembered.  
When they got outside they were walking so close that their shoulders were touching and just that little bit of contact was making Michael feel dizzy in a good way. Luke kept whistling a tune that Michael didn’t recognize and then he was lighting another cigarette.

“So you weren’t in P.E today” Michael said casually

“And you were?” Luke said in dead serious tone. The wind picked up and he watched a few dead leaves roll across the grass before taking a deep breath.

“Isn’t it kind of…required?”

“Well shit Clifford I suppose I didn’t expect you to be just another sheep”

“I would bail out on class but-“Michael shook his head “I mean how do you without getting in trouble?”

“I do get in trouble, Michael. I’m not above any sorry bastard here but the difference between me and them is that I don’t care about getting in trouble; they do”

“I thought everyone here cared about getting in trouble. Aren’t the consequences pretty bad?” Michael was speaking quietly merely because he didn’t know if they were allowed to walk around the quad after dark and all Luke did was a breathy chuckle

“They’ve really got you brainwashed over there at Kurtwood don’t they? They are your source of information, correct?”

“Yeah” Michael nodded “And Monticello was trying pretty hard to scare the shit out of me too”

“Yeah?” Luke skipped ahead a little bit and started walking backwards right in front of Michael. His eyes almost looked green because of the outdoor lights on the main building and when he was doing a half smile Michael could see his dimples and he swallowed hard “Well I think he succeeded. He’s got you wrapped around his little finger. Shit, he’s got you wrapped around all of them” Luke stopped completely and waited for Michael to stop right in front of him “Let me guess…he gave you the whole ‘I’ll be watching you’ line?” Michael looked down and nodded, feeling shy again as Luke smirked at him “We’ve all fell for it. It’s okay” Luke’s confident attitude slipped away for a moment “But the faster you realize that he can’t control you the better off you’ll be. There is a very slight chance that you’ll get anything worse than a couple days of detention if you bail out on class or let’s say…replace all the shampoo bottles with green hair dye” Luke began walking forwards again and Michael stood there in shock for a few seconds

“You really did that?” and Luke shrugged when Michael got closer to him.

“St. Patrick’s day is a fine holiday. It deserves to be acknowledged” Michael began laughing and looking up at the cloud filled sky as he shook his head.

“So what else have you done to corrupt this school?” Michael exaggerated and watched Luke try not to smile too wide.

“It’s a very short walk to my dorm, Michael” Michael seemed to blush every time Luke used his first name. He wasn’t sure why. He just liked the way it rolled off his tongue and sounded all proper. Then again, he just liked hearing Luke talk in general. The way he spoke made it seem like every word he said was extremely important and it needed to reach every one’s ears and Michael really liked that. Especially since he never felt like he said anything that was important.

He watched as Luke swung one of his arms dramatically back and forth as he walked while putting one foot directly in front of the other like he was walking on a balance beam. The silence wasn’t awkward but Michael just wanted to hear Luke talk again.

“You know” Luke instantly looked back at him and for a second Michael lost his train of thought “When I got here Monticello warned me to stay away from a few kids and I have a feeling he was talking about you” Michael said with a smile and Luke returned it before going back to stare up at the sky

“Well you’d be right my friend” Luke began walking backwards again “But the question is: Are you going to listen?” Michael already knew the answer. From the second he seen Luke on his first day he knew he would always have the want to be around him. Luke’s eyes were almost twinkling under the moon and Michael began to get goosebumps. He put on the biggest smile he could and looked straight back at Luke

“Not a chance”

*

The second they walked into the stone dormitory the smell of expensive cigars and fancy cologne washed over him and there was a kid screaming as he ran down the stairs with a white sheet around his shoulders as he was using it as cape and he nearly bumped into Luke

“My apologies, Lucas” he did some sort of weird bow then continued screaming down the hallway. The back of the sheet had been spray painted red with the words Blitz on it and bulls eye under the writing

“He thinks he has super powers” Luke said casually as he took a left into a large library. There wasn’t a library in the Kurtwood dorm and Michael began to wonder what else they had here that his dorm didn’t. There was loud talking going on in the library as random kids sat leaned against the book cases and then there was a large table in the middle of the room that clearly had a poker game going on.

“Hemmings what the fuck! We send you out to get coffee and you bring back a stray” A guy at the center of the table said as he stood up. The other kids were looking Michael up and down too but it wasn’t the normal snotty look he was used to. They just looked curious

“Chill out” Luke put a hand up to him “Boys. This is Michael Clifford” Michael did a slight wave and smiled and most of them smiled back but a short boy close to him stood up and shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Lester”

“Hi” Michael smile without showing his teeth and looked to Luke who was rolling his eyes at Lester

“Anyways” Luke lightly pushed Lester back to the table and stood next to Michael “Michael here unfortunately got stuck in the Kurtwood dorm so I decided to rescue him”

“Do you live on the 2nd floor?” one kid randomly asked and Michael nodded “How have you not thrown yourself out of the window yet?” Michael looked down, laughing a little and shrugged

“Yeah I’d kill myself if I had to live with those assholes” said the kid who originally spoke to Luke when they walked it “Who’s your roommate?” Michael felt Luke’s curious eyes on him

“Oh it’s Ashton Irwin” there was a loud string of “Oooh’s” all across the table and Michael didn’t realize that Ashton was so disliked

“Well you sure got the shit end of the stick. Even the Frog man would have been better than Irwin” said another kid at the table. Michael looked over and Luke was now lounging back on the couch with both his arms resting on the back of it as he gave Michael sympathetic stare and then patted the cushion. Michael instantly sat next to him. Just being next to Luke gave him a calming feeling but he could still hear kids talking bad about Ashton

“He seems to keep to himself” Michael suddenly said and all eyes were on him “Ashton I mean”

“Yeah well” the kid at the center of the table said with a chuckle “Just you wait until Ashton finds out you’ve been hanging out with Luke here. He’ll lose his mind and probably threaten to get you kicked out of the dorm. The crazy bastard” people were nodding and Michael gave Luke a scared look and planned to lower his voice

“He can’t do that…can he?” Luke ruffled his own hair and thankfully shook his head

“Nah, They’re just trying to scare you” Luke lightly tapped Michael’s knee and Michael wished he wouldn’t have taken his hand away but then he was standing up

“Come with me”

  
When they got upstairs the only noise was the faint sound of a radio playing jazz somewhere down the hall and Luke was running his hand against the wall as they walked. Unlike Michael’s dorm this one had random posters and sports flags hanging on almost every door and it had more of that college feel to it. Luke always seemed to be either whistling or humming a song and Michael really missed listening to music so it gave Michael comfort that Luke was like that. Soon they were turning into a room that was covered by band posters and Michael listened to every single one of them.

“Jesus Christ” Michael mumbled when he seen a signed Blink-182 poster above the right bed “When did you meet Mark Hoppus?” Luke threw a few things off his bed then laid back on it with his arms above his head. Michael tried not to look too long at his shirt riding up on his stomach, showing his pale skin. Michael sat at the end of the other bed and faced Luke.

“Freshmen year. It costed us a month’s worth of lunch detentions but by god was it worth it” Michael could tell Luke was thinking of the memorable night and wishing he was there. “After the show we went to this little hole-in-the-wall bar down the street and Mark was just in there playing pool. As the little fanboy I was I of course ran up to him and asked him to sign my poster I bought at the show”

“I’m getting a very vivid picture of it” and Michael was. He could picture a little Luke running up to Mark in his prep school uniform.

“Yeah I was a dorky little bastard. Hard to believe that was only two years ago” Luke drifted off as loosened the tie around his neck and then the look on his face changed to a one Michael didn’t recognize “So, if you don’t mind me asking, what’d you do to get yourself stuck here?” it had been the question Michael had been afraid of and it wasn’t that he didn’t trust Luke. It was just something he really didn’t feel like discussing and he didn’t know what Luke would think of it.

“Ummm” Michael sat there thinking whether or not he just tell him since Luke asked so nicely

“Forget I even asked” Luke said quickly in a friendly tone “We all do shit we aren’t proud of” Michael right away wanted to ask Luke what he was ashamed of doing but then knew that wasn’t fair since he didn’t answer Luke’s question.

“It’s just sort of a long story. I’ll tell you another time” Michael said that mainly, hoping that there would be a next time they would hang out. Maybe this was just a onetime thing and Luke had no intentions in being around Michael again. Michael quickly pushed that thought away as he felt himself getting depressed. Luke was the closest thing he had to a friend and he didn’t want that to lose that “So where’s your roommate?”

“Don’t have one” Luke said proudly, tracing in the letters on his wall with a pencil

“What do you mean?”

“He got expelled earlier this year and they just haven’t given me a new one. I guess they won’t until we get another new student” Michael truly wished that he would have been placed in Luke’s room instead of Ashton’s. Even though, so far, he hadn’t had any problems with Ashton he just knew he got along a lot better with Luke and the thought of staying in the same room with him and eating breakfast with him every morning gave him a warm feeling.

“I wonder why they didn’t place…well me with you” Michael managed out and Luke smiled at his clasped hands on his lap.

“Captain of the swim team and honor student” Luke held out one hand “Or the kid who once hid in a trash can just so he didn’t have to go to class” Luke put out the his other hand and acted like they both held something “I think they made the correct choice” Michael laughed at his last statement but shook his head

“I don’t think they did” he said confidently as he hoped Luke would look up at him. Instead Luke got off the bed and leaned one arm against the window as he looked out it, occasionally drawing shapes on the steamy glass

“Have you ever seen the fine town of Pines Cove, Michael?”

*

By the time Michael got back to his dorm the entire building was pitch black and he had to feel his way up the stairs to avoid tripping and ended up almost losing his balance entirely when he thought there was an extra step. Luckily the motion cencored lights in the upstairs hallway began to flick on and he hoped no one in their rooms would notice and come out asking questions. He opened his door as quietly as possible and seen a sleeping Ashton curled up in his bed. He managed to get out his clothes in silence but as he was walking over to his bed he stubbed his toe on a part of his bed that he didn’t know existed

“Fuck” he whisper yelled and fell onto his bed

“What the-“ Ashton turned on this bedside light and looked at Michael holding his toe as he groaned in pain “Are you just getting in?”

“Erm no. No I just went to the bathroom” Michael tried to use one of those fake voices like Luke always did but he knew it didn’t work.

“I can’t believe you were out with Luke this entire time. You know he’s bad news don’t you?” Michael rolled his eyes “You have no idea what he’s really like”

“Ashton” he whined “I literally think I broke my toe” he was still holding pressure on it as he got under the covers and he could feel it throbbing.

“Fine” Ashton put his hand up in annoyance “Just know that I warned you about him and I hope you know that they do head checks at 11 so you really dodged a bullet there. If they would have caught you in another dorm at this time of night you would have gotten detention for sure” Michael began to think back to what Luke was saying about everyone being so worried about getting in trouble and he really wasn’t exaggerating. Even Michael began to think that detention really wasn’t that big of a deal. He had gotten it quite frequently at his old school.

“Oh detention. How awful” and Michael knew Ashton had caught his sarcasm when he was sitting up in his bed again but all he did was let out a huff and shut the lamp off before turning away from Michael. Michael wouldn’t have been so rude if Ashton wouldn’t have put Luke down so bad. He really didn’t like the sound of that; especially coming from someone as snotty as Ashton. Michael tried to let himself fall asleep but he was too excited about his day with Luke tomorrow. For one it would feel great to be off school grounds but to have all that alone time with Luke was something he couldn’t wait for.


	3. Day 3

Michael kept looking at the surface of the water above him as he held his breath and the bright ceiling lights looked fuzzy. He looked back to Luke in front of him who was crossing his eyes, puffing his cheeks and doing a goofy smile and Michael felt like he was close to gagging from trying not to laugh so he used his legs to push back up to the surface and it felt good to be breathing again. He watched Luke sit down at the bottom for a few more seconds and then he was pushing off the floor of the pool too.

“You cheated” Michael huffed out, still out of breath

“Okay how did I cheat?” Luke laughed and pushed his wet hair off of his forehead

“You were crossing your eyes, purposely trying to make me laugh so I would have to come up for air”

“It helps with my concentration!” Luke said defensively as he splashed Michael and leaned his head against the wall of the pool “So what, do you want a rematch?”

“No” Michael cleared his throat “My lungs hurt”

“Awe” Luke swam in front of Michael and grabbed his face “Does little Mikey’s lungs hurt?” Michael got a smile on his face from the nickname and also because of how Luke was grabbing his cheeks.

“Yes” Michael said sticking his bottom lip out then he thought back to the first time he had a conversation with Luke at lunch “I think I’m going into hypothermic shock too” Luke smiled for a second then he rolled his eyes and swam backwards a little “I mean my skin feels clammy and….are my pupils dilated?”

“Shut up” Luke was trying not to smile as he pointed at Michael “That was an A+ performance and you know it”

“I totally agree” Michael put his hands up. Luke was just staring at him with his almost hypnotizing blue eyes and Michael had to force himself to look away as the P.E teacher was blowing the whistle.

“Out of the pool!”

*

“Hey meet me out on the bench in front of the school” Luke said as they were walking out of the pool building and then Luke was focusing on something else “Aye Robbie. How’s that reptile of yours doing?” Michael looked straight and seen Robbie almost tripping over his own feet as he carried a large back pack. He opened his fanny pack and then looked back to Luke.

“He’s recovered quite well actually”

“That’s good to hear. Maybe I’ll knit him a little sweater so that kind of thing doesn’t happen again” And Michael almost choked from having to hold in his laughter as Luke had an entirely straight face while saying that. As if he actually did want to make the frog a sweater.

“Would you?” Robbie said, sounding way too excited and again Michael was holding back as he bit his knuckles a little.

“Well I can knit like nobody’s business” Luke said in a cocky tone.

“That would be great, Luke!” Luke forced a smile then nodded at him.

“Take it easy bud” and then he was walking forward.

“Luke wait” Robbie shouted and Luke cursed under his breath before turning around “Would you two want to come over to my dorm tonight?” he looked so hopeful and Michael actually began to feel bad for him. Robbie thought that Luke really meant all the things he said but Michael knew every word of it was bullshit. Sometimes Luke just took it too far.

“Shit” Luke rubbed his jaw like he was thinking “We would Robbie but you see” and Michael was already rolling his eyes. Knowing that Luke was just going to feed him more bullshit “Michael’s great aunt just passed away” he wasn’t finished but Robbie gasped so he paused.

“Oh my lord. Michael I’m so sorry” Michael opened his mouth to say something but then Luke was gripping his shoulder a bit and acting like he was comforting him.

“It’s too painful for him to talk about” Luke said in a soft voice “He’s just been through so much and his aunt practically raised him so it’s just been very hard on him” At this point Michael knew he didn’t have any more energy to roll his eyes or sigh anymore and decided to just let Luke go on with this lie since it seemed to be so entertaining to him.

“Oh I totally understand” Robbie said quickly and Michael could feel his pity.

“Otherwise we would be happy to join you in your dorm room but it’s only fair that we go and pay some respect to the corpse”

“Jesus Christ” Michael said under his breath as he rubbed his temples and looked to the ground after Luke used to word “corpse”

“Yes” Luke said in a fake close to tears voice as he focused back on Michael for a moment “Jesus Christ be with her”

“I’ll pray for you, Michael” Robbie said reaching out to pat Michael on the shoulder and then Luke was wrapping an arm around him.

“I better get him out of here before he bursts in to tears again” Luke said now trying to add some humor to the situation “We don’t want a repeat of what happened at breakfast this morning”

“What happened at-“

“Well it was nice seeing you Robbie!” Luke waved and then was turning around with his arm still around Michael “Okay so go get changed and meet me out front okay?” Luke said using his normal voice again.

“You’re fucking ridiculous you know that?” Michael laughed because he knew he finally could.

“Well I suppose you don’t have to change if you don’t want to but-“

“Luke” Michael stepped in front of him and put a hand on his chest “I mean back there with Robbie. Was all that really necessary?”

“Yeah... I think so. I mean I have plans for us. I didn’t want him to fuck it up” Luke said in an innocent voice as he licked his lips and looked past Michael

“Well then you could have just said that instead of saying my great aunt died” and then Luke furrowed his eyebrows and walked around Michael.

“Well what’s the fun in that?” he lightly slapped Michael on the back.

“Have you ever muttered a single word of honesty to that kid?” Michael was just curious how long Luke has been doing this and Luke looked like he was thinking hard on the question.

“Michael, I’m the only person in this entire school that treats him like a normal person. I wouldn’t be doing him any favors by being honest”

“Yeah but it’s…fake niceness”

“Most of it is, yes but he doesn’t know that so who cares” he let out a breath “Now can we please move on from this topic?” it was the first time Michael had heard him sound slightly aggravated and he began to feel bad

“Sorry. I was just curious” he said quietly.

“No need to apologize” it made Michael feel better when he seen Luke smiling at him and soon he was getting closer to his dorm.

“So the bench?” Michael wanted to clarify their meeting spot.

“The bench” he said, making himself sound like an opera singer.

“Once again” Michael laughed “You’re fucking ridiculous”

“Thank you” Luke said like it was the best compliment he’s ever heard even though he knew Michael didn’t mean it to be one then did this dorky bow and he was making his way to his dorm. Michael stood on the front step of Kurtwood just staring as Luke snapped his fingers and added a little skip to every step and then a kid was exiting the dorm so Michael made his way inside.

*

Luckily Ashton wasn’t in their room when he got upstairs. Michael just didn’t want to hear Ashton asking him where he was going and then proceeding to tell him how horrible Luke was. He slipped into his black skinny jeans and the tightness on his legs compared to his lose dress pants felt so foreign to him but it was something he missed. He found a plain white T-shirt in the bottom of his suitcase and then his green jacket and wished he could see how he looked like but he knew he looked way better in his regular clothes than his uniform. He quickly made his way down the hall catching a few glances from the other students and he almost ran into Calum at the end of the stairs.

“Oh. Sorry, Calum” Calum took a double look at him then smiled

“Don’t worry about it. Where you off to?” Michael didn’t understand why everyone had to be so nosey all the time. All he wanted to do was hang out with his friend and for some reason Calum and especially Ashton seemed to have a problem with that.

“Just um…going out with a friend” Calum raised his eyebrows, obviously wanting more but Michael played dumb. Not wanting to hear another lecture on the topic of Luke.

“Well we were planning on going to this nice restaurant in town. It’s too bad you can’t join us” he looked past Calum just in time to see Ashton flashing him a dirty look and then he was heading out the front door and Calum could sense the tension.

“I don’t think Ashton would want me to come anyways but thanks for the offer” Michael reached for the door but then Calum briefly stepped in front of him

“Yeah what is going on with you two?” and that meant that Ashton had been talking shit about Michael to Calum

“I’ve been hanging out with Luke Hemmings and Ashton clearly doesn’t like him but I’m sure you know that”

“Luke Hemmings huh?” Michael could already tell that Calum didn’t dislike him as much as Ashton did “Well just don’t break any rules with him cause he’ll probably put all the blame on you and then you’ll be the one getting in trouble the most. That’s sort of his thing” Michael put his hand back on the doorknob but then he stopped

“What do you mean ‘that’s sort of his thing’?” Michael said quietly, not really wanting to have this conversation but also wanting Calum to elaborate more.

“I’ll make this quick since you seem to be in a hurry but basically freshmen year Luke and Ashton were actually friends and they pulled a prank together then Luke blamed it entirely on Ashton and he almost got expelled. He still hasn’t let it go” Michael opened his mouth but he didn’t know what to say to that. Thinking of how Ashton might have felt after that happened hit way too close to home for him. He thought back to how much of a liar Luke could really be but he tried to brush it off. Just because he would do something like that to Ashton doesn’t mean he would do the same thing to Michael. But Michael wished Calum wouldn’t have told him because he knew that would always be stuck in the back of his mind.

“Well thanks for telling me I guess but I gotta go” Michael gave Calum a little smile then rushed out before Calum could say another word. He figured that Luke would be waiting for him since he kind of screwed around in his bedroom for a little while on top of talking to Calum so he basically ran across the quad. There were a few cars lined up in front of the school and he looked around for the blond but came up with nothing. He sat on the bench and just hoped that Luke didn’t get sick of waiting and just leave without him. He really didn’t know how patient or impatient he was. Everyone was jumping around and blaring their music loud in their cars and Michael wondered if it was like this every weekend or if it was just this weekend.

The kids were acting like they were being released for summer break, not for a regular 2 day weekend. Michael began to wonder if he would start acting this way after being here for a few months. He felt like at least 15 minutes had passed and soon he seen Calum, Ashton and two other’s approaching the front sidewalk where there was now only a red car with a geeky kid behind the wheel. Ashton said a few words to him once they got closer and Michael cursed when he seen Calum walking his way. 

“You sure you don’t want to come with us?” Calum crossed his arms and there was a slight smirk on his face

“He’ll be here” Michael said confidently as he looked forward. There was a black car making its way onto the school grounds and it was one of the nicest cars Michael had ever seen. He looked back to Calum who was looking at the car as well then the car slowed down right in front of the bench and that was when Michael got a look at the driver and he felt his jaw falling a bit. He was wearing the same pair of sunglasses that Michael had seen him in that first day in gym class and he had one arm resting across the seat as he smirked at Michael

“Guess you were right” Calum mumbled

“Hop in ya whipper snapper” Luke shouted to him in some strange accent and Michael got up quickly but slowly walked up the car, still admiring the view of Luke with one hand on the wheel, wearing a black slippery textured shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked absolutely gorgeous and Michael couldn’t form words so Luke smiled up at him and leaned forward, opening the door for him. Michael visibly shook off the ungodly thoughts he was having and got in and the seat was already warm

“Why does it feel like my ass is on fire?” and that had Luke laughing. It was the first time Michael had made him laugh that hard and it made Michael’s stomach flutter

“Heated seats, my friend. So I was thinking we’d go to this neat little diner on 5th street first cause if I don’t eat soon I’ll be in the ground like your great aunt. Sound good?” Michael was nodding as he laughed quietly into his jacket collar

“Yeah I’m pretty hungry myself” He watched as Luke started the car again and took off with ease. There was just something about the way he drove that made Michael like him even more. He looked so at peace and in his element. Luke began messing with the radio and finally settled on this old sounding song. It was clearly before their time but Luke knew every word to it

“Strangers in the night” Luke said just as low as the singer did and Michael fondly smiled at him “Two lonely people, we were strangers in the night. Up to the moment when we said our first hello” he continued to sing and then he was putting his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose and looking back at Michael “Little did we know love was just a glance away…” he looked away and continued singing and Michael closed his eyes just wanting to stay in this car forever with Luke and just drive around while he sang to him. It was the first time he had really heard Luke sing and it was so soothing to him (Even though he knew Luke wasn't using his real singing voice). It was clearly a love song and here Luke was, singing the words directly to Michael. Michael began to wonder if Luke was even real sometimes. He was so different than anyone he’s ever met and just handled things so much differently but at the same time he was so easy to relate to. The song ended and Michael didn’t even realize his eyes were still closed until Luke said something in a caring tone “You tired?” Michael rubbed his eyes and actually felt like he was now.

“Yeah a little. I’ll snap out of it though” there was still woods on each side of the road but it steadily felt like they were coming to the end of it. For some reason Michael still felt like he was still on school grounds and he knew it would until they were off this same paved road.

Luke went back to the radio and then began humming instead of singing. Michael already missed his singing voice and he knew he could listen to it for hours

“I um” Michael knew Luke could sense the nervousness in his voice by the way he stopped tapping on the wheel “I really like your voice, Luke” Michael didn’t look up at him but he could see Luke biting his lip in the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, well I really like your smile” Michael didn’t recognize the tone Luke was using but he hoped he would use it a lot more often and with those words Michael was looking at him with a huge smile on his face and then Luke returned it, showing his dimples . He wished desperately that he could see Luke’s eyes but he decided that he couldn’t be too greedy. After all he had Luke entirely to himself while they drove down a back road as the music was playing at a calming volume. Michael began thinking that the only thing that was missing was Luke’s lips on his own and if he had his way that would have happened the second he met him. As they turned left, Michael was right; it did feel like they were finally free from the schools grasp.

They passed a small party store and the woods seem to be a thing of the past as they got to open areas with houses lined side by side. Not too long after they began entering a small town and passed a sign that read “Pine’s Cove”. He could tell right away that it was a small fisherman’s town but it felt so homey. It felt very similar to what Michael was used to back home and it felt nice to see kids running down the street or people walking their dogs. All the shops seemed to have the same three colors on them: Yellow, Red and black and Michael seen Luke wave to a few people on the street and they instantly waved back. Either Luke came here quite often or the people were just very friendly.

“Do you come here a lot?” Michael felt like the silence had gone on for long enough and he also just wanted Luke’s eyes on him.

“Not as much as I used to. It’s not as enjoyable if you don’t have anyone to come with you” Michael began to think back to all the guys in Luke’s dorm and how Luke was rarely ever by himself. He seemed to always have a crowd around him and he didn’t understand how Luke could possibly have no one to go into town with.

“Yeah, but what about all those guys from your dorm? Wouldn’t they want to come with you?”

“Probably not” Luke shrugged “I don’t know. All they care about is going to clubs and shit like that. It’s not my scene” It wasn’t Michael’s either and suddenly he wished he would have came to the school earlier, merely for Luke’s sake so he would have someone to take into town with him. It seemed like such a sappy thought but he couldn’t help it

“Yeah, I don’t blame you there” Michael began to think about his old friends a little “My friends at my old school were like that. All they wanted to do was party and I just wasn’t into it” Luke hummed a little bit before glancing at Michael

“You’ve never told me about your old friends” he was saying it in a tone like he wanted Michael to.

“Well that’s because I didn’t have many” Michael did a weak laugh to not sound so depressed about it but it was true. “I mean there was one guy I was pretty close with”

“Well that’s all you need” Luke spoke a bit louder “You only need one good friend. If you have too many friends then they all sort of jumble into one person and you start to forget how they are individually. As time goes on you’ll begin to drift away from them because it will start to seem like you have nothing in common with them anymore. This isn’t me just talking out of my ass either. It’s a known fact” and Michael chuckled at how quickly he went into his serious mode but Michael liked when he did that. Luke seemed older in this moment and Michael couldn’t put his finger on why that was. Maybe it was just his overall outfit; his dark blue jeans hugging his thighs perfectly and his dark button down shirt that made him look like some kind of male model.

“You’re right” Michael finally muttered “You only need one good friend’

“Mhm” Luke nodded longer than he needed to and then they were pulling into this back parking lot. The restaurant was off on its own and the only thing ahead of it was the small canal which still had a few boats parked near the shore of it. “Oh and don’t order the chicken noodle soup” Luke said quickly before slipping inside and holding the door for Michael.

“Wait but why?” Michael laughed.

“Well because chicken noodle soup is disgusting…and not just here” Luke raised his voice a little “It is everywhere. I have never tasted a good bowl of chicken noodle soup” Luke made his way towards one of the back booths that faced the water and Michael slid in across from him

“You seem to have a pretty strong hatred for chicken noodle soup” Michael was giggling a little. Luke just said the strangest things sometimes.

“Oh I do” Luke responded quickly. He looked like he was about to say more but then the waitress was coming by. They both ordered waters and then they were looking at their menus “So what’re you thinking?” Luke said casually

“Hmm” Michael skimmed his eyes over it a few more times “I’m thinking the shrimp basket. What about you?”

“The Monte Cristo sandwich” Luke said deepening his voice

“What the hell is that?”

“It’s the best thing ever created. That’s what it is”

“Well what’s in it?”

“You’ll see and if you’re a good boy I’ll let you have a bite” Michael rolled his eyes and tried to hide his smile.

“I’m always a good boy”

“Yeah we’ll see about that” Luke said with a smirk and Michael was so confused as to what he meant by that but decided not to say anything more. The waitress came to get their orders and Michael hoped the food wouldn’t take long to come out because he felt like he hadn’t eaten in years and he knew Luke was just as hungry. The chatter seemed to calm down quite a bit and it almost felt like him and Luke were the only ones in the diner. Luke always had this way of making him feel like it was just them two.

Michael watched as Luke’s plate was set down in front of him and he started rubbing his hands together with a wide grin on his face.

“It looks delicious. Thank you” he said to the waitress but didn’t take his eyes off the food and Michael began eating his the second it was sat down. He was halfway into his food when Luke was holding out his own fork with some of the sandwich on it “Here. Try it” Michael took it “But dip it in this” he held out a little container of something that looked like jam

“You want me to dip the sandwich in the jam?”

“It seems strange I know but it I promise you’ll love it” and of course Michael trusted him. He dipped it in and put to his mouth as he felt Luke’s eyes on him

“Oh. Holy fuck” Michael practically moaned out and Luke was nodding as he laughed.

“Good huh?”

“Can I uh…change my order?” Michael said in a joking way as he looked around the diner for the waitress.

“We’ll come back. I promise” Luke said in a serious tone “You can have a few more bites” and Michael felt himself blushing again. Luke was so sweet.

“I don’t want to eat all your food” Michael said feeling bad but then Luke was raising his eyebrows “Fine. One more bite” and he quickly took one as he felt Luke smiling at him. When the check came Michael instantly started taking out his wallet.

“I’m paying. It was my idea to come here” Luke said sternly but then Michael felt himself getting jittery again.

“So….” And his tone had Luke looking up “Does that mean this is a date?” he teased but Luke didn’t smile back.

“No” he said plainly and Michael felt himself deflate a little. Of course he was kidding but maybe he expected Luke to play along a little or at least smile and he watched Luke briefly shake his head before taking a sip of his water “If this was a date I would have taken you to a place way nicer than this” Luke finally looked up to Michael but Michael felt frozen. The feeling of wanting to kiss him had sky rocketed and he swore by the look on Luke’s face that Luke would have let him but Michael couldn’t get the guts. When Luke finally smiled and looked away he knew he had missed his chance.

*

They walked around town for hours just admiring the scenery and not much was said but Michael was okay with that. Just being in Luke’s presence made Michael feel the happiest he’s ever felt. It was getting dark now and they were both aware that they had missed 6pm dinner but neither of them cared. Michael didn’t know if it was because Luke’s not-care-about-anything attitude was starting to rub off on him or if he just felt like any punishment would be worth it as long as he got to spend time with Luke. Either way he started to realize how much Luke was taking over his life in the short time they had known each other.

He started to wish that they could just stay in town and never have to go back to school but he figured as long as Luke was there with him he would be fine. It was only a few more weeks until Christmas break anyway. Luke kept doing this thing where he would walk right in front of Michael and then abruptly stop, making Michael bump into him and even though Michael acted like it was annoying him he really couldn’t stop smiling at how adorable he was.

“Would you cut it out?” Michael laughed as he briefly pushed Luke’s shoulder and walked past him.

“Stop bumping into me” Luke acted like Michael was the one to blame then caught up with him and Michael was slightly shivering “You cold?” Michael felt Luke’s fingers trace his lower back and it just made him shiver even more.

“Yeah a little. Do you want to head back?”

“Do you?” Luke said curiously after a pause.

“No” Michael said honestly “But we probably should” surprisingly enough Luke nodded and they were making their way back to the car. Luke made sure to turn on the heat as soon as they got into the car and Michael felt himself leaning his head against the window.

“Is your ass warm?” Luke said in a serious tone and Michael laughed before nodding.

“Nice and toasty” he happily said back.

“Nice and toasty” Luke repeated with a grin.

“So what do you think we’ll get?”

“What do you mean?” Luke’s tone changed.

“Like how much trouble will we get in?”

“Oh” Luke looked back at the road “Probably just detention. Nothing too drastic” by the look on his face Michael felt like he was teasing him a little for being so worried about what would happen to them.

“Sorry it’s just…when I first got here I had this idea in my head that they used physical forms of punishment. I scared myself shitless”

“Physical forms of punishment?” Luke giggled “What made you think that?”

“Well I watched The Dead Poets Society” and by this time Luke was wiping his eyes from laughing so hard

“’Assume the position’” Luke said in a authority tone, referencing the movie “That is classic”

“That scene was cruel” Michael muttered.

“Well no one at our school will ever lay a hand on you” Michael sensed a protective tone in his voice and he started getting that feeling in his stomach again.

“So no paddles to my ass?” and that had Luke laughing again. Michael decided right then and there that making Luke laugh was his favorite thing.

“Not unless you’re into kinky shit like that” Luke winked and suddenly all of Michael’s confidence went down the drain “Then I’m sure I can have it arranged”

“I’ll umm” Michael cleared his throat out of nervousness “I’ll have to get back to you on that one” Luke was still smiling as he looked forward and rubbed his tongue against his cheek. Michael felt like Luke was making himself look more attractive on purpose, knowing that he was already making Michael feel weak. In a way Michael was glad this night was nearly ending because he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold off kissing Luke. He never had enough confidence to make the first move on anyone, let alone Luke. Luke seemed to have everything figured out and he knew exactly who he was. Michael wished he could be more like that and then maybe he would have the guts to kiss him.


	4. Day 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while for me to update :(

The weekend flew by a lot faster than Michael wanted it to and it was probably because he spent almost every minute of it glued to Luke’s side. Time seemed to be in fast forward whenever he was around Luke and he just figured it was because they always had so much fun together. Even just sitting around in Luke’s dorm as they listened to music and threw paper airplanes into the trash can felt like the best thing ever.

He rarely ever seen Ashton or Calum anymore but of course he was okay with that. It was a little awkward at nights when he would sneak into the room late at night and sometimes Ashton would still be awake. They would never say anything to each other but it bothered Michael when Ashton would keep the light on when he knew Michael wanted to sleep. He would do little things like that to annoy him and it made Michael wish even more that Luke was his roommate instead. His time here would be a lot better if he didn’t have to set foot in the Kurtwood dorm. He was now sitting in the chapel as students began to come in and soon Luke was scooting in next to him.

“What’s the weather forecast for today?” he said instantly as he sat down like it was the most interesting topic in the world and Michael decided to go along with it

“Partly cloudy with a 30% chance of rain”

“Damn it” Luke said louder than he should have and a few kids glared at him. They were in a church after all. Michael chuckled when he seen a kid who looked like he was literally 12 still completely turned around in his pew giving Luke a dirty look “You better turn your ass around, Alfalfa” Michael let his head fall onto Luke’s shoulder, trying to drown out his laugh and then looked up to see the kid facing the front again but his pointy hair could still be seen. “So as I was going to say. I was really hoping for snow”

“Some snow would be nice” Michael nodded and he realized his head was still on Luke’s shoulder but Luke didn’t seem to be phased by it so he didn’t move “I mean if it’s going to be cold it might as well snow”

“Exactly” the church bells started to go off and Michael had to pry his head off of Luke’s shoulder, suddenly feeling not as good as he did. He liked being at the very back of the church instead of the front where Ashton always chose to sit. Him and Luke could get away with more back there like having quiet conversations when they weren’t supposed to and trying to make the other one laugh with funny faces. Luke always won. Not to mention that things were always funnier when you weren’t allowed to laugh.

The last half hour of Chapel seemed to drag on and Michael could tell that Luke was getting fidgety as he kept moving his leg up and down. Michael had the sudden urge to put his hand on Luke’s knee, it felt so domestic and he wished he could. Instead he sneakily moved a little closer to Luke and put his hand on his own knee to stop the urge.

“So see you in detention right?” Luke smirked as they were just about to part ways to attend their first hours. After their absence during dinner on Friday night they had both been told that they had been issued detention on Monday and Michael had no idea what to expect.

“You like that I have detention, don’t you?” Michael said crossing his arms over his chest.

“I do” Luke said proudly. He started to walk off but Michael continued to stand there watching him and then Luke was walking backwards “And by the way” he had to shout because of the distance between them now “I was kidding when I said this school doesn’t use physical forms of punishment”

“Luke” Michael whined

“So prepare to get that ass beat” Luke yelled and Michael frantically looked around hoping there weren’t any teachers around so Michael flipped him off and Luke actually looked proud of him as he raised his eyebrows and then he was walking away as he put his hands in his hair and waved over his shoulder, still aware of Michael’s eyes on him.

*

  
When Michael got into the detention room it looked just like any other classroom except for its lack of desks. There were only about 10 of them and it was clear that not many people at this school got detention. It was probably the same kids that were there every day.

He made his way to the very back and of course Luke wasn’t there yet so he started picking at the food on this tray. Even though the schools food wasn't absolutely terrible he really started to miss his moms cooking and just his mom in general if he was being honest. Even in his head it sounded rude but he didn’t exactly miss his dad. After all, it was his idea to send Michael to this school in the first place and Michael thought he exaggerated the whole situation. The stunt that landed him here was basically the first bad thing Michael has ever done and he didn’t think he deserved to go to this school in the first thing, although it did have its perks.

Michael was now reading a book but smiled as Luke was walking into the room with two iced teas and he put one on the teacher’s desk before spotting Michael and making his way towards him. Of course Luke was friends with the detention teacher. Luke didn’t say anything until he was sitting down next to Michael and had taken a few drinks of his iced tea.

“I didn’t get you one cause you didn’t seem like an iced tea person” Luke said with a yawn.

“Well you’d be right” Michael said taking his eyes off his book and putting it face down on the table for a moment.

“A Separate Peace huh?” Luke said taking the book and flipping through the pages but making sure to save the page Michael was on.

“Yeah I have to write a book report on it and it’s due this Friday”

“It’s a good book. The first time I read it I hated it but for some reason I decided to give it another chance and I ended up loving it” Michael didn’t exactly picture Luke to be the reading type but Luke continued to surprise him every day.

“Yeah I like Finny. Gene is sort of an asshole though” that had Luke doing a quiet laugh

“And you’ll grow to hate Gene even more” Luke used a mysterious tone “It gets pretty dark towards the end”

“Just tell me what happens” Michael didn’t exactly feel like reading the rest of it and since Luke had read it twice he was hoping he would help him out.

“No can do. You’ll be happy you read it” Luke handed the book back to Michael.

“Oh come on” Michael scoffed “Please”

“Are you begging right now?” Luke smirked at him.

“Well yeah…yeah I mean I don’t want to read it. I have enough shit to do” Luke still had that smirk on his face as he scanned the room a few times then focused on flipping through a notebook on his lap.

“Maybe if you got your knees and asked me then I would be more likely to change my mind” Luke said it so casually as if it wasn’t the most absurd thing Michael had ever heard and he still wasn’t make eye contact with Michael.

“What?” was all Michael could say.

“On your knees. I mean if you want me to tell you so badly” this time his voice sounded more sexual than casual and Michael had to shake himself out of getting too turned on.

“No” and that had Luke looking at him “I’m not…I’m not doing that Luke” he looked down at the book but could feel Luke’s eyes still on him “Jesus, I’ll just read it myself” Luke made a little “mhm” sound then started eating his food and Michael pretended not to hear him when he muttered a “Well that’s a shame”.

Michael found it strange that Luke didn’t say another word to him the rest of the time during detention. Luke did and said a lot of things that Michael just didn’t understand and maybe that’s what was so intriguing about him. He was hard to figure out and Michael liked that about him. He was trying to focus on his 5th hour teacher but all he was doing was looking out the window and thinking about Luke and how he only had to wait an hour until he got to see him again. Most of his days consisted of just counting down the minutes until he got to see Luke.

*

  
When P.E came around Luke always kept within close distance with Michael but he never came close enough for him to talk to him and Michael began to wonder if he did something to actually piss Luke off. He couldn’t remember doing anything out of the ordinary but yet again Luke sometimes seemed to all over the place and maybe it wasn’t anything Michael did. Michael watched him swimming like he was in some sort of race with himself and everyone else was goofing off. Usually Luke goofed off the most but right now he seemed to be taking everything pretty serious. He finally stopped swimming and he leaned his forehead against the pool wall taking deep breaths and Michael swam over to him.

“You training for next year’s Olympics bud?” Luke started to let out a laugh then it became a cough and he was putting his arms up on the floor and putting his face into them.

“Why? Do you think I could do it?” there was so much hope in Luke’s eyes and Michael really wasn’t aware of how much he was capable of but he knew for sure Luke was one of the best swimmers he’d ever seen.

“Yeah” Michael said confidently “I think you could” Luke smiled wide before digging his face back into hands and they both jumped when the whistle blew. They exited the pool and made their way towards the locker room, side by side. Michael wanted to hurry up and change so he walked ahead of Luke to start changing back into to his uniform but then Luke was taking them out of his hand and putting them back in his locker “Luke” Michael gave him a questioning look.

“Don’t change yet. Just stay in here with me until everyone leaves” he was talking quietly and it was almost like he was begging Michael. As time went on Michael started to question Luke less and less and just went along with everything he said even if it didn’t make sense, merely because he wanted to be around him and he was afraid one day that would get him in a lot of trouble but he nodded none the less.

He followed Luke to the sinks and he began to shiver more and more as the cold air hit his almost naked body. Luke took a double look at him and grabbed the closest towel to them and tossed it to him. Michael gave him a thankful look and wrapped it around himself as he sat next to Luke on the counter. They watched silently as the students closed their lockers one by one and began exiting the locker room.

Luke looked impatient as he kept tapping at his knee and putting his fingers through his hair and Michael himself was wondering what Luke had mind. Of course there was a darker thought at the back of his mind but there was no way that was what Luke had planned for them. It was just Michael getting his hopes up again. When the last person closed the door Luke shot up and Michael watched him frantically check all the showers for anyone else who might be still in there then he was walking over to his locker and came back to Michael with two bottles in his hand

“Do you know what these are?” he said holding them up.

“umm blue hair dye?”

“Blue hair dye” Luke said sternly “Do you know what we are going to do with them?” Michael let out a breath and wished that Luke would just get to the point instead of playing twenty one questions with him.

“Put them in the shampoo bottles?” and that had Luke chuckling and shaking his head.

“No, Michael. We’re dying our hair” Michael hadn’t dyed his hair in a while and he was started to get bored with this platinum blond color. He wondered if Luke somehow knew he was in the habit of dying his hair constantly. It wouldn’t surprise him if he did. “Let’s get to it then!” Michael jumped a little, lost in his own thoughts but followed Luke into the shower.

Luke handed him one bottle and Michael just watched him pouring it into his hand and then he began massaging it into his hair. His thoughts were once wondering to a dark place as he watched Luke’s arms flex every time he would scrub harder at his head and he let his eyes fall down to his chest that was still a little damp and then Luke was clearing his throat and Michael snapped his eyes away.

He was reminded of the time Luke had caught him checking out his naked body and Michael wondered if Luke remembered it. Of course he did and he began to feel himself heating up so he started putting the dye into his hair without another glance at Luke

“Make sure to rub it all over” and Michael just nodded instead of saying “I know”. He had done this enough times to know how to do it.

“This better not make me look like a smurf” Michael mumbled still looking down as he watched some of the hair dye go down the drain but then Luke laughed and Michael needed to see him smile. That was one thing he knew he could never miss seeing.

“Well if you end up looking like smurf then so will I” Luke cocked another grin “But I think we’d be cute smurfs” even though Luke was calling both of them cute it still gave Michael butterflies and he hoped it didn’t show on his face.

“We’re going to stand out like a sore thumb”

“Turn around” Luke said ignoring Michael’s comment and Michael did so. He felt Luke’s hand on the back of his hair as he lightly scrubbed at it. He did it a lot softer than he was doing to his own hair and Michael tired not to lean back into the touch.

Michael flinched when he felt Luke’s hand on his side, just setting it there almost to just hold Michael in place and he hoped Luke didn’t feel the instant goosebumps that his touch caused.

“Alright, looks good” Luke tapped Michael’s side but Michael stayed turned away from him thinking that maybe if he stayed in this position Luke would go back to touching him but he knew that logic made no sense. He turned around with a visible frown on his face “It says to wash it out in 15 minutes. Hmmm what to do until then…” Luke drifted off and there was something different about his tone.

“I can think of something” Michael’s eyes widened when he realized he had said that out loud and Luke looked just as shocked.

“Yeah? W-what?” Michael couldn’t believe that Luke had just stuttered. Luke Hemming’s had just stuttered his words and Michael thought he had imaged it. Luke had never shown any kind of nervousness towards him but then he looked up and Luke was running his eyes all over Michael’s face as he…nervously bit at his lip. It wasn’t the way he would normally bite as his lip because this time there was no sign of a smirk. Michael didn’t want to say what he wanted to do with Luke out loud. He wished that he just had the courage to do it but the longer Luke looked at him the more confident he got. It was almost as if Luke was waiting for Michael to make the first move.

“Come here” Michael knew it came out as begging but he didn’t even care. Luke obeyed instantly and stepped closer so that Michael could feel his breath on his face. Michael wanted nothing more than to dive forward and kiss Luke harder than he had ever kissed anyone but he also wanted to touch him all over so he looked down at his hand, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to do this with Luke looking back at him, and he slowly began tracing his fingers up and down Luke’s sides.

He dragged them against his ribs and Luke still hadn’t freaked out or pushed him away so Michael moved his hand to trace along Luke’s biceps until he was up by his neck and softly gripped it, before he was forced to look at Luke in the eye and he seen Luke opening his eyes. He must have had his eyes closed the whole time Michael was touching him. Luke licked his lips and Michael couldn’t hold back any longer.

It had felt like he had waited years to kiss Luke and he moved forward, finally feeling Luke’s lips against his and he realized why had wanted this so bad. Michael felt himself relaxing when Luke began immediately kissing him back and let his hand settle on Michael’s lower back as he put his other on Michael’s chest and softly pushed him back against the wall. Michael felt like no other moment in his life had been as good as this kiss and he started to kiss Luke harder as he turned his head the other way and rubbed his thumb against Luke’s neck.

Luke moved his hands so that both of them were resting on Michael’s hips and he pushed himself against him. Michael knew that Luke had felt his already hard dick when he smirked into the kiss and he knew all the nervousness Luke had went down the drain as he kissed Michael more eagerly like he needed it in order to live. Luke let out a sharp breath as Michael let his hands roam down his torso and brushed nipples then Luke moved his hands to the back of Michael’s hair and pulled at it. This was the Luke that Michael knew and he was totally okay with him taking the reigns on this. He let out an embarrassingly loud moan when Luke moved his lips away to attach them to his neck and suck on the skin just below Michael’s neck.

“Is this what you had in mind?” Luke’s voice was low and rough sounding and Michael felt like he could come just from hearing him talk like that. Michael moaned out a “mhm” and nodded fast. Luke’s hand slowly made its way down Michael’s chest and then stopped right above the waistband of his shorts as he just brushed his fingers against that spot, driving Michael crazy. Finally Luke began to pull Michael’s shorts down, just enough to free his dick and then he was wrapping a hand around it and pumping him way faster than Michael thought he would.

“Fuck” Michael whimpered out as he let his head hit the hard wall behind him. Luke started to leave harsh kisses all over his neck and collarbone and Michael knew for sure there would be marks. He hoped there would be.

Michael felt himself getting closer as Luke began to twist his hand up and softly rub his thumb against the slit when he reached the tip, making Michael rut up against him and try to fuck up into his fist. Luke took his head out of Michael’s neck and started kissing his lips in a tender way as he moved his hand in a fast motion. Michael was coming without a warning when Luke softly bit at his lip and he let out moan and kept whimpering Luke’s name as he let his head fall on the blond’s shoulder. He was breathing heavy and could feel Luke pressing soft kisses to his shoulder and rubbing his fingers up and down his arm.

Michael knew his face was beat red from being so out of breath but he also knew he was blushing because he couldn’t believe that had just happened but he faced Luke anyways. Luke leaned forward and kisses him hard again and then slowed down. He got to the point where he was just letting his lips linger against Michael’s

“You don’t even know how bad I’ve wanted this” Michael almost whispered it and he could feel Luke’s fingers tracing up his back.

“Yeah I do” Luke spoke just a quiet “Cause I’ve wanted it just as bad” Michael let out a sigh of relief and closed his eyes when Luke ran the back of his fingers against his cheek. He pulled Michael’s shorts back up for him then he was facing away from Michael and turning on the shower.

It didn’t feel like it could have been 15 minutes but getting under a warm shower with Luke sounded amazing. Luke urged him to step forward into the water and when Michael did he started massaging at his hair, making Michael about fall asleep at the touch.

“Close your eyes. I don’t want it running in your eyes” he said softly and Michael listened even though he didn’t want to tear his eye off Luke. After he got all the dye out he pushed all his hair back and pressed a kiss to his neck before he started working on his own hair. Michael opened his eyes and Luke was giving him an almost shy smile as he rinsed his hair.

“Does it look okay?”

“It looks great” Luke’s smile widened. Michael couldn’t help but look down and see that Luke was still hard. He wanted more than anything relieve him of that but then there was a booming voice echoing through the locker room.

“Luke you in here?” both Luke and Michael relaxed when they realized it was only Luke’s friend Porter.

“In here!” Luke shouted with no intent of getting out of the warm shower.

“Well is Michael with you-“Porter stopped when he seen Michael and Luke both standing in the shower with blue hair. There were too many things that were weird about the situation and they could tell Porter was trying to work it all out in his head “Oh. You are here”

“I’m here” Michael said in a dry tone.

“Quick question: Why the hell do you two have blue hair?”

“Well” Luke started in on that fake voice that Michael had learned to love “Tomorrow is Dolphin Appreciation Day and as you know Dolphins are from the ocean and the ocean is blue so” he pointed between himself and Michael a few times “We’re celebrating it”

“Okay, Luke” Porter rolled his eyes, clearly not buying it. Luke didn’t seem affected by it as he turned around, still scrubbing at his hair “Anyway. I came in here because Calum told me that someone called the dorm asking for you” he pointed at Michael.

“Someone called me?” Michael sounded way too excited “Who was it?”

“He didn’t say. He just said it was urgent apparently” a few bad thoughts were appearing in his head like what if something bad happened to his parents or one of his friends.

“Shit. I gotta go then” he looked at Luke who nodded and seemed to be understanding of the situation and then he darted out of the shower, getting on his clothes fast and then he was out the locker room door.

He tried ignoring all the snarky looks he got as he crossed the quad. He still didn’t know how blue his hair really was but he expected that it was a fairly bright color from the way that kids that were yards away from him were glaring at him. He ran into his dorm and pushed past a few kids until he got to the sitting area where, luckily, he seen Calum “Calum. You said someone called me?” he began frantically looking around for a phone. He didn’t even know that their dorm had a phone if he was being honest. Calum stared at him wide eyed for a few seconds and Michael was getting impatient.

“Your…your hair”

“I know” Michael put his hands up “Who called me?” Calum stood up and Michael followed him past the kitchen and into a small room that he didn’t even know existed. There were a few small book cases with some chairs but that was pretty much it and then he seen the phone in the far corner. There was a notepad next to the phone and Calum handed it to him.

“That’s the number who called” Michael instantly began dialing the number and held the phone up to his head.

“Can you at least give me a hint to why you look like this” Michael did a weak glare at him, wondering why he cared so much.

“Luke” was all that Michael said and then he was listening to the ring of the phone.

“Well I guess I should have guessed that” Calum mumbled before leaving the room.

“Mikey?” said a voice on the other end and Michael recognized it instantly.

“Hey Derek” Michael let out a breath “So what’s wrong? You said it was urgent”

“Oh nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to talk to you”

“Well thanks for getting me all scared for nothing” Michael rubbed his eyes “Jesus Christ”

“Sorry” Derek did a little giggle so it didn’t sound like he was even that sorry “So how is it there? Have you been smacked by a ruler yet?”

“No” Michael laughed out and it did really feel good to be talking to his friend again “Believe it or not it’s really not that bad here”

“Not that bad? Why are you lying to me? Is this call being monitored?”

“No” Michael instantly said but then he realized that they could easily monitor their calls “Well maybe it is but I’m being honest. I mean the school work is a pain in the ass but everything else is fine”

“Ooooooh” Derek dragged on and Michael knew exactly where this was going “So what’s his name?” Michael felt himself blushing and he shook his head

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” he muttered.

“Come on. Tell me his name”

“Luke” Michael gave up and he didn’t know why he said it so quietly

“That’s cute. So you guys banging or what?”

“Alright” Michael said sternly “If you don’t have anything important to say then I’m just going to hang up”

“Fine, sorry. So have you talked to your parents since you’ve been there?” Michael felt himself getting sad and he wished they were still talking about Luke

“No. No they haven’t called me once since I got here and they didn’t say a word to me when they dropped me off”

“That’s cold. Maybe they just feel bad for sending you there”

“Well they should. What I did wasn’t even that bad. They act like I’m a fucking criminal or something”

“Well hopefully you’ll only have to be there for one year then you’ll be a free man”

“Yeah…We’ll see” Michael drifted off and watched the trees outside

“I guess I’ll let you go. It had just been a while since I heard your voice” Michael held back tears a little when Derek said that “And I just wanted to make sure you were okay”

“Yeah I’m okay” Michael said quietly

“Alright bud. I’ll see ya when I see ya”

“Bye” Michael waited until the heard the click on the other end and then he hung up the phone. He leaned against the wall and looked at the boring room before darting out of it and needing to see Luke again. He had left quite quickly and he felt bad about that.

*

Luke was laying on his bed with both of his arms resting above his head when Michael arrived in his dorm. Michael shot him a smile before entering the room and Luke gave him one back. He closed the door behind him which earned a confused look from Luke but Michael just sat at the end of his bed.

“So who rang for you? Is everything alright?” Luke sat up a bit and looked genuinely worried

“Yeah it was just my friend Derek from back home. It wasn't urgent at all actually” Michael laughed “He just wanted to talk to me” he started messing with his hands on his lap “Sorry I left so suddenly”

“Don’t worry about it” Luke sat up completely and just stared at the side of Michael’s face. Michael should have known that Luke wouldn’t get upset by something like that. He was way too easy going.

When Michael focused on him his face was only inches away and it still seemed crazy to him that not too long ago they were making out in the locker room shower. He already missed the feeling of Luke’s lips and took a quick glance at them before looking back at his beautiful eyes. Everything about Luke was so beautiful.

“I really wanna kiss you again” Luke said suddenly and Michael was so glad that Luke read his mind like that. He moved forward and kissed him gently at first but Luke instantly started pulling him so that he was laying down and Michael was on top of him.

Having Luke underneath him like this was even better than he imagined and he could feel Luke’s breathing picked up as he started grinding against him but it wasn’t nearly enough friction. He lowered his hand to start palming at Luke’s crotch and felt him quickly shake beneath him and then he was lifting his hips up to rub against Michael’s hand even harder. Michael bit at his neck a few times before he started taking off Luke’s pants.

He just remembered that he hadn’t seen Luke’s dick yet (up close anyways) and it gave him an overwhelming amount of excitement. He slid them off with ease and then Luke was quickly getting out of shirt. Michael still kept palming at his dick, feeling it get harder and then he began moving his lips against Luke’s lower stomach and he shuddered when Michael moved his tongue against his skin.

Michael loved falling apart and feeling shots of pleasure shoot through his body because of what Luke was doing to him but he also loved seeing that he could do the same thing to Luke. His eyes were hooded as he pushed his head back into his pillow and bit his lip to try and keep quiet but when Michael slid his boxers off and got his hand on him he couldn’t help but let out a moan. Michael could have sworn he came in his pants just from hearing Luke make that sound and he needed him to do it again.

He took in the sight of Luke’s hard cock as he slapped against his stomach and then he was licking all the way up the underside of it, earning moan from Luke that got stuck in his throat and came out all weak sounding.

Michael began sucking on the tip and instantly Luke’s hand was in his hair, just gently massaging it like he was in the shower. He lowered himself in one fast movement and that had Luke gripping hard on his hair but he loved it and it just encouraged him to pleasure Luke even more. He hollowed his cheeks and moved up and down in a fast pace, feeling Luke’s thighs shake underneath him.

“Jesus Christ, Michael” Luke moaned out and Michael moaned too when he felt Luke digging his nails into his scalp, causing Luke to buck up but Michael still didn’t gag. Luke still rubbed his hand across Michael’s face in a silent apology.

Luke started rubbing his hands as far down Michael’s back as he could, just needing to touch him and he wanted desperately to kiss him again but he also didn’t want Michael to take his mouth off his dick either

“I’m close” he said so quietly that Michael almost didn’t even hear him but he brought one of his hands up and started massaging Luke’s balls in between his fingers, making him come almost instantly.

Michel swallowed every drop of it then brought his mouth off of him when he knew he was too sensitive and Luke dove forward kissing Michael like it had been years since the last one. Michael dug his fingers into the back of Luke’s hair as Luke slowly laid back down, now breaking the kiss and slowly rubbing his fingers up and down Michael’s spine. When they both felt like they were going to pass out from lack of air Michael pulled back and rested his head on Luke’s chest as he gave him soft kisses all over his neck. He fell asleep to the feeling of Luke breathing heavy underneath him.


	5. Day 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait guys! and thank you so much for anyone who is still sticking by this fic i love you <3 and idk how to sum this up except for...basically I'm going to hell. Enjoy!

Even though Michael happened to wake up exactly at 10:30pm before the routine head checks were done he still wanted to stay with Luke as long as he could. Last night they laid there lazily kissing as Luke rubbed his hand through Michael’s hair and Michael was literally whining when he knew he had to go back to his dorm. Luke flew out of bed to give him a few more kisses in the door way before he left. T

hey were both acting like it was the last time they would ever see each other but they just couldn’t help it. Michael would spend every second with Luke if he could and getting out of bed this morning was easy because he knew he would see Luke and he would be able to do things with him that he had been dreaming about since the moment he first seen him. He even got out of bed before Ashton did and took a quick shower before sitting on the windowsill with a coffee cup of orange juice.

The quad and living room was empty and it was nice. Usually his dorm was pretty silent anyways but It seemed like there was always at least one person in the room with him and it bothered him sometimes. He did like his alone time and going to a preparatory school didn’t give him much alone time.

“Hey there Papa Smurf” Michael turned to see Calum strolling into the room with his hands in his pants pockets

“Oh…Yeah” Michael ran his hair through his hair “I kind of forgot”

“Yeah well the students here haven’t. Word is getting around about yours and Hemmings hair and someone has probably already ratted on you two so prepare for a possible talk from Monticello” Michael hated the thought of having to go back into Monticello’s office again and having to hear him spit out a lecture. He would honestly probably have a weeks of detention or something along those lines but maybe Calum was just trying to scare him and he really wouldn’t have to talk to the headmaster.

“Wait are you sure I’ll have to talk to Monticello? I mean won’t I just get detention?”

“Well no one has dyed their hair before at this school, especially not a color so bright, so I’m really not sure how they’ll handle it but you’ll get more than detention that’s for sure”

“Shit” Michael mumbled and his thoughts began to wonder back to physical forms of punishment. He knew that would be in the back of his mind for the remainder of the time at this school even though Luke assured him that they didn’t do that here.

“You’ll be fine” Calum patted him on the leg and then he was gone

  
Luckily in Chapel he sat in the way back and avoided most people’s stares but Luke was nowhere in sight but then Michael figured he just skipped today since he usually skipped most things. By the time 1st hour rolled around he knew that his time of being noticed would come and he expected that it would only be a matter of time until he was trapped inside Monticello’s office feeling like he just wanted to jump out the window.

As soon as he stepped in the doorway all eyes were on him and most people just had their mouths wide open like they had just seen a ghost. Only a few kids had smirks on their face probably knowing how much trouble Michael would be in. He slumped back in his seat and he could already hear the teacher walking towards him but he didn’t look up

“Mr. Clifford?” Michael forced himself to look up at the bald man in front of him “Can you tell me what this is about?” Michael was about to apologize right away. He was about to say that he would change his hair back immediately and that what he did was wrong but something was stopping him from doing that. Luke’s personality began to take a hold of him and he straightened up in his chair before speaking

“I’m sorry; I’m not sure what you’re referring to?” Michael loved the way the words came out of the mouth the moment he said them and he heard a few kids gasp like they couldn’t believe he was talking to the teacher like this. He liked it.

“Your hair, Mr. Clifford” his voice had raised now and Michael could tell he was the type of person to get angry very quickly but he stayed in character

“Oh this?” he said playing with it a little “Well from where I come from we celebrate this thing called Dolphin Appreciation day. Are you saying that you don’t care about the dolphins?” a few kids more kids had turned towards him now and the teacher moved his hands to his hips

“Well Mr. Clifford here at Lincoln Prep we do not celebrate…” he took a deep breath and Michael had to stop himself from smirking “Dolphin appreciation day”

“Well I think that’s a little disrespectful. Don’t you?” Michael was feeling so proud of himself and he actually wished that Luke could be here to see him acting like this.

“The only thing that is disrespectful here is your tone” he was practically yelling now but Michael didn’t crack “Now you are to report to Headmaster Monticello’s office right this second” he was now pointing to the door and Michael glared at him for a little while longer before gathering his things and trying to remember how to get to the headmaster’s office from here.

He thought that he would regret the way he was talking to his teacher but he didn’t. He was still feeling proud of himself but he began to think that would change once he was actually in the presence of Monticello.

He made his way down the empty halls and only his own footsteps could be heard. Things were starting to look familiar and then he seen a flight of stairs that he remembered going down when he had first arrived here. Luckily when he got to the top of the stairs the headmasters office was only a few steps away and he dragged himself towards it. There was girl with a kind face sitting at the desk and she smiled up at Michael which gave him a warm feeling. Not many adults here would smile at students.

“Hello, how can I help you?”

“Um…I’m here to see the headmaster” Michael felt himself getting scared as he said it and all he confidence was out the window

“Okay just take a seat and he will be with you soon” Michael nodded and took a seat as he looked around the heavily decorated room. Since Monticello’s office was so dark and depressing he began to think that maybe the secretary was the one who decorated this part of the office. She had to of and Michael looked up to see her smiling at him again so he got a little brave.

“Has Luke Hemmings been in here today?” She looked confused for a moment and then looked down at the papers on her desk.

“No he hasn’t dear” Michael gave her a smile then looked to the floor. It wasn’t that he wanted Luke to be in trouble with him it was just that he was a bit confused as to why he hadn’t gotten in trouble yet. Luke was just as guilty as he was. He was knocked out of his thoughts when the office door began to open and Monticello stood in the doorway. Michael gulped

“Michael” he said sternly and Michael quickly walked his way. Monticello was already sitting his chair when Michael entered “Close the door” he grumbled like he was already very upset with Michael. Michael guessed that his hair really was pissing him off. Michael sat there quietly as he avoided the older mans gaze and just wanted him to hurry up and get to what he wanted to say. “Your teacher has informed me that you have done this for some sort of strange holiday?”

“Yes sir” Michael knew he couldn’t change the story now “Dolphin Appreciation day” he had to fight back the urge to laugh. He never understood how Luke said shit like that with such a straight face.

“Well I’m convinced that that holiday does not exist. You may be able to fool everyone else but you aren’t fooling me Mr. Clifford” Michael flexed his jaw as Monticello raised his voice “And I want you to know that if something like this happens again you will be greatly punished” the “greatly punished” part scared Michael but he also knew that he was being given another shot

“It won’t happen again sir” Michael said digging at his nails, it was a nervous habit

“I expect that it won’t” Michael began to become angry at his tone. It was like he knew for sure Michael wasn’t going to act up again and Michael kind of wanted to break the rules again just to prove him wrong “I’m not giving you detention since that seems to do nothing for you” Michael cringed. What else was there? “But during your lunch period you are to report to the chapel for confession”

“Confession sir?” Even though Michael had never been to Confession he knew what it was. He was just confused as to why he was being sent there. Monticello was acting like he did something evil and needed to ask God to forgive him for it. All he did was dye his hair.

“Yes. Confession. I want you to talk to the priest” he stood up quickly as he looked down at his phone that was ringing “You’re excused” Michael practically jumped out his chair and darted out the door.

*

Michael of course got strange looks everywhere he went but tired not to think about it too much. Really the only thing that was on this mind was where Luke had been all day. Sure they only had one class together and he hadn’t had it yet but he still almost always seen Luke in the hallway or outside walking late to his class when Michael was already in class.

Michael of course began to get worried that Luke was purposely avoiding him and it made him sick to his stomach to think about it. By the time Lunch came around Michael was looking forward to eating because he felt like he was starving but at the last second he remembered that he was supposed to go to the confessional and he let out a groan that earned a few glares from the kids walking in front of him. He slumped against the wall and looked out to see the church right as it began to rain. Of course it would start to rain…as if this day couldn’t possibly get any worse for Michael. He knew that if he finally got to see Luke that his negative thoughts would instantly go away. At least he had last hour to look forward to if he didn’t see Luke before then.

  
*

Michael walked into the dimly lit church and passed the entrance area to see a door towards the front that read “Confessional” on it in gold writing. Michael let out a breath before making his way towards it as he touched each one of the pews as he passed them. It had never been this silent while he was in the church and honestly it was freaking him out a bit. It was just that he could hear every single sound that was made and it was making him be on edge.

He opened the door and right next to him was a half wall with a window type of thing that had tiny holes in it. He expected that the priest would be behind it and he was actually happy that the priest wouldn’t be able to see him. On his side there was a small little stool that leaned against the wall and as Michael sat down he could make out the outline of another figure on the other side.

So the priest had been waiting for him and Michael guessed that he should speak up. He tired to think of what people said in the movies when they went to confession. Luckily he had seen a lot of movies with these types of situations. They usually started out with saying the last time they went to confession but Michael had never been to confession so he knew he would have to change the saying a little bit.

“Umm…well this is my first time going to confession” he then expected that the priest would tell him to say a few prayers and then he would be on his merry way but there was nothing said on the other side. Michael slowly turned his head to see a little movement but there was still no words said “Maybe I’m wrong but aren’t you supposed to say something?” Michael tried to sound as nice as possible but it still came out sounding rude.

He actually began to wonder if the priest was even okay. Maybe he was having some silent stroke or something and Michael was just sitting there doing nothing about it. Suddenly the figure was standing up and Michael found himself getting a little scared for some reason. He just didn’t know what was going to happen. When the priest came around the corner it in fact wasn’t the priest at all and Michael let his jaw drop open.

“What the-“

“Michael. How nice of you to join me”

“What the fuck. What’re you doing here man?”

“Language Michael!” Luke put his hands on his waist and shook his head like he was very disappointed but Michael knew this was another one of his acts “We are in a house of God, are we not?”

“Seriously” Michael did a bad job of wanting to sound serious because he couldn’t stop laughing but he hoped Luke would cut this shit out and just tell him why he was here and also why he was wearing some weird robe thing. It was Christmas colored and he could literally smell the moth balls on it. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Well” Luke fixed his posture a little “I originally came here because the headmaster told me that it was part of my punishment but instead I did my confession and then I told that old bastard that you were sick and not coming so he went to lunch and then I stole this beautiful…” Luke did a little spin “Robe that I found in the supply closet. Doesn’t it suit me?”

“Yes, Luke” Michael coated those words with sarcasm but he knew Luke wouldn’t acknowledge it and act as if it were an actual compliment “It suits you very well. Now can we go have lunch or something? I’m fucking starving”

“Oh Michael” Luke made a few “tsk” sounds and then stepped closer making Michael feel a bit nervous but it was an excited kind of nervous “I warned you about the cursing and you aren’t only disappointing me but you are also disappointing Jesus. You wouldn’t want to do that would you?” Michael was so close to rolling his eyes and he was about to just stand up and leave but instead he got a sneaky smirk on his face and decided that he would go along with it. After all, it could be fun.

“You’re right” Michael stood up and he knew that Luke was surprised by his cocky tone. He got within a few inches of Luke and had to force himself not to lean forward and kiss him. It had been too long since he last kissed him “I’m such a disappointment and my mistakes shouldn’t be overlooked. Shall I assume the position?” Michael still had that huge grin on his face but Luke looked utterly confused but then he looked just as smug as Michael did as he nodded and smiled wide.

“Face the wall” Luke said sternly but he still had that smile on his face but Michael still instantly listened. He kind of just then realized that obeying Luke’s orders might be something that he’s really into. Michael rested one arm against the wall to rest his face in and then he felt Luke standing directly behind him as his hands came to rest on Michael’s sides as he pressed his lips against his neck. Michael got chills right away as Luke moved his lips slowly against his skin and then Luke was tightening his grip on his hips and pushing him more into the wall.

It was a bit of shock when Luke suddenly undid Michael’s jeans and pulled them and his boxers down all in what seemed like one second. He could feel the coldness on his backside but didn’t even think about it because soon Luke’s hands were roaming all over it as he squeezed hard but Michael loved the pain.

“You have such a nice ass” Luke leaned forward to whisper in his ear as he slid his tongue against the skin below it. All Michael could do was whimper and then he turned his head a little to see Luke dropping down to his knees. His tongue immediately started running up and down his hole in a teasing way and Michael had to bite his fist to not let out a loud moan. No one had ever done anything like this to him before but it was obvious that Luke was highly experienced in it.

When Luke finally slipped his tongue inside Michael didn’t even care that he let out a low moan that sounded more like a growl and he felt Luke smirk against his hole which turned him on even more. His tongue kept going in and out of Michael and he felt his whole body shaking as he tried not to let himself just fall to the floor. It felt so good that he his legs could barely even keep themselves straight.

He felt Luke put both of his hands on his ass to grip his cheeks while he still kept a steady pace going with his tongue and when he felt Luke’s nails dig into his skin he let out another moan but this time it sounded even more desperate. He began to realize that this was the best “punishment” he has ever gotten and he would beg for Luke to do this again if he had to. Michael was so happy when Luke used one hand to reach forward and start pumping at his dick that had been neglected but he honestly didn’t even notice it until then.

“Oh fuck, Luke” all Luke did was moan against his hole bringing Michael even closer “Fuck it feels so good”

“You gonna come Michael?” he had that smart ass tone to his voice and Michael loved when he talked like that.

“Yeah…Yeah I’m gonna” Michael whined out and then he was biting his fist again as Luke sped up his hand that was on his dick and still kept moving his tongue inside of him.

Soon Micahel was coming all over the wall and on himself a little as he felt his legs failing him a little. Luckily Luke stood up and wrapped both arms around his waist as he held him and pressed soft kisses to his shoulder and neck. Suddenly Luke gave him a hard slap on one of his cheeks and then rubbed his hand against it as an apology but Michael would ask him to do it again if he didn’t feel so exhausted. He liked being spanked by Luke and Luke knew he did by the whimper he let out. Luke bit at the back of his neck a little and then pulled Michael’s pants and boxers up for him and Michael was already smiling as he turned around and then Luke did too.

“So did you learn your lesson?” Luke chuckled. He knew that wasn’t a punishment at all.

“If that’s what I get when I break the rules then I’m going to break the rules every fucking chance I get”

“Now that’s the shit I like to hear” Luke winked at him and eagerly began kissing Michael as he dug his hands into his hair.

“Aren’t you hot in this?” Michael tugged on the thick robe that hung loose on Luke once they had to catch their breaths. Luke just nodded and Michael helped him slip it off and then threw it in the corner of the room. Michael then glanced down to see Luke’s still hardened cock in his jeans and he quickly pulled them down as he began to palm him through his boxers. Luke let out a loud moan at the littlest contact and Michael knew he wasn’t going to last long so he got down on his knees and then looked up at Luke before pressing his lips to his dick “Forgive me father for I have sinned”.


	6. Day 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really stuck on this fic so I can't believe I am updating already haha but I'm so happy that I had this sudden spark of creativity. I'm actually really proud of this chapter. It's a super cute chapter of boys breaking some more rules and being adorable about it. Let me know if you guys like it cause I love the nice comments so much <3

“Roman!” Michael looked up to see a tall (and handsome, he might add) kid stopping in Luke’s doorway as him and Luke sat against the headboard on his bed “Got a light?” Roman nodded and began digging through his pocket and then tossed the lighter to Luke. “Thanks man and shut the door for me will you?” and then Roman was gone after he shut the door. He didn’t seem like the talkative kind at all.

“He seems pretty quiet” Michael said casually as he laid down and put his face into Luke’s pillow. Luke was still sitting up against the headboard but began rubbing his fingers through Michael’s hair, causing him to make an almost purring sound.

“He’s a man of very few words but he’s a sneaky son of a bitch”

“How so?” Michael loved hearing Luke tell stories. He just loved hearing Luke talk in general.

“He has a key for every room in this entire school”

“Wait. Every room? Even the headmasters office?”

“Especially the headmasters office” Luke smiled down at him “He even has a spare one”

“Well shit. I wonder how he pulled that one off” Michael thought out loud.

“Don’t know. He probably killed a man” Luke said causally with a cigarette in between his lips and Michael looked up to watch him light it and then he blew a gust of smoke out the window. It was way too cold to have it open but Michael was nestled tightly under the blankets so it didn’t bother him. Not much bothered him when he was with Luke.

“So winter break begins tomorrow…I can’t believe I haven’t asked you what you’re doing” Michael sat up on one elbow.

“I’m staying here. That’s what I always do” it didn’t seem to bother Luke but Michael felt himself getting sad at the thought of Luke just being here alone on Christmas.

“You’re staying here…all by yourself?”

“Yeah, Michael” Luke let out a laugh and took another hit of his cigarette “It’s not a big deal”

“Do your parents live really far away or something?”

“No they live a half hour from here but I don’t care about seeing them” Luke changed positions so that he was laying down with his arm above his head and Michael just wanted to lay down on his chest but he was a bit worried how Luke never mentioned his parents before this and it was only because Michael brought them up.

“So you guys don’t get along…” Michael tired to make it seem like less of a question just because he had asked Luke enough questions.

“No, they’re assholes” Luke acted like he wanted to say more and Michael hoped he would because he just wanted to know more about Luke but then Luke was looking at him finally “Are you going to see your folks for Christmas?” it seemed like Luke was hoping that Michael would say no and Michael wished that was the case. He would way rather stay here with Luke.

“Yeah umm” Michael looked down to mess with the blanket “My parents finally called me yesterday and told me they were coming to pick me up”

“’Finally’?” Luke raised an eyebrow “You mean they haven’t called you the entire time you’ve been here?” it was the first time Michael seen Luke look sad and he didn’t like him feeling that way at all.

“Yeah” Michael shrugged and tried to brush it off as nothing. He didn’t want Luke feeling sad for him anymore. “But I mean…they’ve never been big talkers. I kind of expected it to be honest”

“Do you miss them?”

“Not really” Michael let out a chuckle when Luke tired to suppress a smile as he looked down and shook his head at Michael’s bluntness “I’d rather stay here with you” that put Luke’s attention back on Michael’s face and he turned so that he was laying on his elbow just as Michael was laying down completely. Michael just really liked having Luke above him because it gave the other boy the freedom to do whatever he wanted to Michael.

Luke brought up one hand to gently put it through Michael’s hair and then moved his fingers down his face to cup his cheek before leaning forward and just looking all over Michael’s face like he was scared to continue.

Michael could feel his heartbeat picking up because Luke had never been this gentle with him and maybe the look on his face was why Luke wasn’t kissing him yet. Michael wrapped one arm around his waist and brought them closer and then Luke was smiling and kissing him softly as he just barely moved his lips. Michael was in absolute heaven and he began to realize that each of Luke’s kisses would somehow be even better than the last.

It didn’t even seem possible that any kiss could be better than this one but Luke was Luke and he was always surprising Michael. Luke leaned back and Michael let out a small whimper at the loss of contact which Luke found amusing as he did a low chuckle that had Michael’s stomach feeling fluttery. Instead of looking right at Michael he started putting his hands though the other boys hair again.

“This blue hair looks so fucking good on you” Luke whispered as he continued to look at Michael’s hair but let his hand fall to his neck where he rubbed his thumb against the skin there. Michael felt a shiver run through his body and hoped Luke wouldn’t notice it and stop what he was doing.

He knew he could lay in bed with Luke like this all day and he desperately wished he could. He began to think that if his parents weren’t coming to get him tomorrow then he could spend the whole Christmas break like this with Luke and he immediately felt like he could literally cry because he knew he couldn’t.

“What’re you thinking about?” Michael smiled at the way Luke could always sense those kind of things about him. He just knew Michael was thinking hard about something. Michael let out a breath and leaned forward to kiss Luke again and was a bit surprised when Luke let him lead it. Michael kissed him just as softly as Luke did to him and then he leaned back and pecked a few kisses down his jaw.

“I’m gonna miss you” Michael said quietly as he now had his face buried in Luke’s neck as Luke rubbed his fingers up and down his spine. The action was just about putting Michael to sleep with how comforted and safe he felt like this.

“I’ll miss you too” Luke whispered into his hair and Michael felt Luke’s jaw tighten as if he was close to crying but Michael thought there was no way. He had never seen Luke show much of any emotion when it came to sadness. “But you’ll be back before you know it” Luke did a little laugh and Michael was glad “I’ve actually got this prank planned for us when we get back from break. I mean if you’re into it” Michael leaned back so he could look at Luke and they both had smiles on their face.

“I’m definitely into it” Michael said confidently and Luke smiled even wider as he moved his hand down to rest on Michael’s hip.

“It’s sort of bigger than anything we’ve done though so I totally get it if you aren’t up for it” Luke’s face turned more into a worried parent and Michael had never seen this side before. Basically he had never seen this responsible side of Luke.

“No I’m totally in but umm…” Michael glanced out the window at the moving trees “What exactly is the prank?”

“Now that I can’t tell you” Luke’s old self was back and Michael felt himself smiling, although he liked every version of Luke .

“Oh come on. Why not?”

“Because Michael” Luke used his stern voice and Michael tried not to let himself get hard at the thought of their little adventure in the confessional booth with Luke was using that same tone “I want it to be a surprise” Michael felt himself getting sad when Luke sat up and moved off the bed as he stretched and Michael was giving him a questioning look.

“Luke-“ Michael started to whine again at wanting to know what this prank was.

“I’m hungry. Are you hungry?” it had been only 2 hours since they had diner but Michael strangely did feel hungry or maybe his stomach was just as whipped for Luke as his head and heart were to the point where he would just do anything as long as Luke wanted to. That was probably it.

“Yeah actually” Michael said quietly as he started to sit up “But what the hell are we going to eat? I don’t know about your kitchen but the one in my dorm doesn’t have shit”

“I was thinking we would go somewhere….” Luke leaned against his bedroom window as he crossed his arms and started to draw shapes on the glass “with a few more choices” Michael felt himself gulping at the smirk Luke was giving him and he realized right then that if Luke told him to jump off a cliff he would do it without even thinking twice about it.

*

The dark corridor was silent except for their rapid footsteps and Michael watched Luke skip in front of him as he hummed a tune that sounded like it was from some cartoon from his childhood. He watched as Luke stuck his hands in pants pockets and then he was sticking to just a casual walk. Michael felt like a bit of a creep so he sped up and slightly bumped into Luke before walking beside him. Luke gave him a slight smile then went back to looking at the marble flooring.

“I remember walking down these halls on my first day” Michael made sure to speak quietly but his voice still echoed a little “Man I was scared shitless” Luke let out a small laugh and nodded for Michael to continue “I just didn’t know what to expect and I had all these horrible ideas in my head of how they’ve portrayed private schools in like movies and stuff like that. I remember thinking that I was going to be miserable the entire time”

“Are you miserable?” Luke said with a little humor in his tone.

“Not even close” Michael said instantly “But I think I would have been if I hadn’t met you” When Luke didn’t say anything for a few seconds Michael looked over to see him biting his lip and actually looking….nervous for once. Michael was afraid that maybe he said something to make him uncomfortable but then Luke was smiling while still looking down and Michael was so focused on his face that he didn’t even see Luke’s hand moving over towards his.

When Luke locked his fingers between Michael’s he made sure to hold them back right away and he got that same feeling he did when he kissed Luke for the first time. They held hands all the way down the hallway until Luke was rubbing his thumb softly against Michael’s hand and then letting go so he could dig in his pocket. Michael felt himself deflate a little but he knew he would get to hold Luke’s hand again. They were stopped at a door and then Luke was bringing out a bobby pin and pressing it into the lock.

“I know what you’re thinking:” Luke said suddenly “'Luke why are you breaking and entering when you could have just gotten a key from Roman?'” Michael let out a little laugh. He did start to wonder that to be honest.

“Let me guess….breaking and entering is just more fun?” Luke smiled without showing his teeth when Michael got done speaking and then he looked up at him as he swung the door open.

“Am I really becoming that predictable?”

“Mhm” Michael hummed as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Luke’s lips and Luke grinned before kissing him back more eagerly than Michael expected. Luke ran his tongue against Michael’s bottom lip and slipped it in when Michael let out a breath. Then Luke abruptly stopped and walked into the kitchen without looking at Michael.

“Bet you weren’t expecting that huh?” Luke raised his eyebrows as he leaned against one of the counters. Michael shook his head as he could still almost feel Luke’s tongue in his mouth but he wanted that feeling again so he walked over to stand directly in front of Luke and pressed his lips against his and got brave as he stuck his tongue in first earning a small moan from Luke. The kiss became more heated when Luke gripped Michael’s hips hard and brought them closer so that their chests were pressed up against each other’s and Michael ran his hands through Luke’s short hair.

“Alright alright” Luke laughed into Michael’s mouth before pulling away but Michael didn’t want to be done so he started kissing the skin right below Luke’s ear as he slightly bit at it making Luke’s breath get caught in his throat and then he felt Luke swallow hard “Jesus Christ, Michael” he moaned out and Michael smiled wide against his skin and that’s when Luke pushed him away “Quit being a little shit. We came here to eat remember?” Luke said in a serious voice but he was still holding onto Michael’s hips.

“Fine” Michael decided to be dramatic and stuck out his bottom lip. Luke laughed as he shook his head and quickly ran his hand through the pouting boys’ hair before walking over to the fridge. Michael really liked that Luke liked touching his hair because it was always such a nice feeling.

“Okay so we got cheese….more cheese” Luke was leaning against the fridge door while he bent down “Strawberries…no. Aha!” Michael was sitting on the counter facing Luke and watched him pick up a large plate from the fridge and turn around with it as he licked his lips. Michael was practically drooling as he looked at the chocolate cake in Luke’s hand. Without really thinking about it Michael reached out and went to take a bit a the frosting with his pointer finger but then Luke was slapping it away. “Christ, Michael. We aren’t barbarians” Luke used a motherly tone and then walked away with the cake.

“I just wanted a little taste” Michael mumbled as Luke dug through one of the drawers for silverware. Luke came back with the cake and set it on the counter that Michael wasn’t sitting on and then starting digging in so Michael hopped off the counter and starting taking bites too and after the 3rd bite he let out a little laugh.

“What are you laughing about?” Luke smiled. They were now both sitting on the counter as they ate the cake as if they were starving to death.

“Just…Just this whole situation: sitting here with you…eating chocolate cake after we broke into the schools kitchen. Have you done this kind of stuff with your other friends?” Michael was just curious.

“No” Luke said as he looked behind him as the fridge started producing ice and making noise “Just you” and Michael just sat there frozen a little. Surely he knew that Luke had other friends who would be more than willing to break the rules with him like this but the fact that he only wanted to do these things with him made Michael get that warm feeling again in his stomach. He didn’t even notice he was smiling wide until his cheeks started to hurt. Luke quickly glanced at Michael when he didn’t say anything then he glanced again when he seen him smiling and it almost looked as if he was blushing as he went back to eating another piece of cake.

“Ummm….” Luke set down the fork again and cleared his throat. He was definitely blushing and Michael just wanted to lean forward and kiss his rosy cheeks “Do you want some milk?” Luke’s eyes were running all over Michael’s face and it was making it hard for Michael to concentrate on the question he was asked.

“Yeah…sure” Michael watched as Luke hopped down off the counter and walk over to fridge to get the milk out and he poured some into two separate cups before going to sit on the counter again “Thank you” Michael siad shyly as he took the glass from Luke. They both sipped their milk and just sat there in silence for a few minutes and it was nice. It was a very calming environment even though Michael knew they could be caught any moment. He just felt safe with him and Luke felt like he was invincible so Michael felt that way too.

*

After they both decided that they had eaten enough cake to keep them full for the rest of the night they headed outside and out onto the quad. Michael really wanted to grab Luke’s hand again but it was freezing and he was afraid that his cold hand would make Luke’s even colder since his were tucked under his coat sleeves. So Michael just stuck them in his pockets instead to keep himself from wanting to. Just as they were getting to the middle of the grass area Michael felt something wet hit his nose and instantly looked up to see white flakes slowly starting to fall and they were quite noticeable under the bright outdoor lights and the black sky.

“Luke…” Michael stopped and remembered how badly Luke wanted it to snow as he looked up.

“Hmm?” Luke said tiredly and he finally stopped to turn around and look at the other boy. He looked like he was about to say something else but then he was looking up at the sky like Michael was.

“It’s snowing” Michael let the words fall from his mouth like it was the most amazing thing he was ever witnessing. He didn’t want to look away but was glad he did when he seen the bright smile on Luke’s face. His pale skin was almost glowing, but with a tint of pink on his cheeks from the cold, and his eyes were flicking all over the sky as he slightly moved his head. Michael had never seen someone look so beautiful and he knew it was showing on his face how intrigued he was by the boy when Luke took a double look at him and smiled even more brightly than he had at the falling snow. Suddenly Luke was crouching down and then lying completely on his back on the grass as he looked up with one arm under his head. Michael giggled because it was so typical Luke to do something like that.

“What are you doing?”

“Lay with me” Luke patted the ground next to him and of course Michael did right away. Michael settled on the ground with both of his arms behind his head and instead of looking up at the sky like Luke probably expected him to he looked over at the boy next to him. Luke was closing his eyes as the flakes fell on his face only to disappear within a second and he had his other hand resting flat on his stomach as he gently moved his thumb. Michael would rub at his own stomach like that too when he was tired and it seemed like Luke was pretty tired too. Maybe he was just enjoying the moment though.

Luke sensed Michael’s eyes on him so he opened his own and looked straight back at him. It seemed like hours that they just stared back at each other and Michael was completely okay with that…more than okay with it. He felt like he could lay with Luke like this forever. Luke started to get closer to Michael and soon he was sitting up a bit and looking down at Michael as he balanced on his elbow. Luke leaned down and surprised Michael a bit when he kissed his cheek and then the spot right below his ear, making Michael shiver.

He was being extremely gentle with him and although Michael loved when Luke was all rough and dominating with him he loved when Luke treated him like some glass object that he was afraid he would break. Luke started trailing kisses all down Michael’s neck and then came back up to press a eager kiss to his lips and Michael kissed him back with just as much passion. He didn’t know how he was going to stand being away from Luke during Christmas break. Michael felt Luke’s hand rub against his shirt in a fast pace on his stomach and then he was sticking it under his shirt. Michael realized that Luke was trying to warm up his hand before he put it on his skin and Michael smiled into the kiss. Luke was the sweetest. How would he be able to go a week and half without this? He knew it would drive him insane and right then and there he realized that maybe he didn’t have to.


	7. Day 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long chapter and there's a lot of feelings involved in this one so I hope you guys love it! and keep on letting me know in the comments <3 (Also I know Michael doesn't have a dog named Napoleon. That's a personal thing) Oh and the song mentioned in this chapter is Keep Us by Peter Bradley Adams.

Michael was running across the quad after making a call to his parents and there were a few kids coming out of the Blitz dorm so he just slid in the door before they shut it. Michael was here so often that people wouldn’t even look twice when he entered the building and he actually had a few kids that asked if he actually lived in the Blitz dorm. Michael wished he did. It sure would make things easier and him and Luke could probably get away with sleeping in the same dorm if he did.

He was running up the stairs towards Luke’s room and was already smiling when he got to the doorway but it faded just as quick when he looked into the vacant room. Both of the beds were made which was a strange thing to see in Luke’s room because he would switch sleeping in them and then never make them.

Actually the whole room looked clean and Michael got a little worried. He looked around for someone so he could ask where Luke was but weirdly enough there was no one around. Michael leaned against the doorway and just started twisting at his bracelets. It was something he did when he was bored but he also did it when he was nervous about something and he was definitely nervous. His head whipped up when he seen a figure appearing out of a room three doors down on the other side of the hall and luckily it was someone he knew.

“Hey. Roman” Michael said shyly and the boy looked up thankfully with a smile on his face “I don’t know if you remember me but I’m Luke’s…friend” Michael would have way rather said “boyfriend” but he wasn’t sure if they were there yet. Although he loved the way that it sounded in his head.

“Yeah I remember” his voice was a lot deeper than Michael expected and he tried not to get intimidated. Roman started getting closer then stopped about a foot away from him.

“Umm do you know where Luke is?” Roman acted as if he was thinking as he ran pressed his lips together and looked down the hallway.

“Something happened” Michael felt his heart jump into his throat but tried not to panic too much “He only ever cleans like this” Roman motioned to his tidy room “When something happens…I mean I wouldn’t worry too much” Roman said after seeing the terror on Michael’s face “But there’s only two places he could be: the chapel, weirdly enough, or the pool. So your best bet would be to check there” Michael was surprised at how helpful Roman was being but he was so thankful for it. He was also surprised how nice he really was. His look made him seem pretty intimidating.

“Thank you” Michael let out a breath “for the help. I just really need to find him soon” Michael started walking and then turned around for a second “And have a good break” he tried to force out a smile even though he was terribly worried about Luke but Roman returned it.

“Yeah you too” he called out and then Michael was running back down the stairs.

*

 The air seemed to be colder as he stepped outside again and Michael knew he had to calm down. Luke was okay and he obviously wasn’t dead or anything of that sort so he didn’t understand why he was so worried about him. He guessed that it was because he never really seen Luke show any other emotion apart of happy and he honestly didn’t know how he was going to react to it.

The thought of seeing Luke look legitimately sad made him sick to his stomach and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from trying to comfort him. It kind of hit him hard right then and there how much he really did care about Luke as he was fast walking towards the pool building. He kept thinking of all the horrible things that could be wrong and Michael knew he had to stop doing that. He didn’t want to be losing his mind by the time he got to Luke because obviously Luke was the one that was having a hard time and Michael needed to be strong for him…whatever it was that was going on. Michael hoped it wasn’t as serious as he was making it out to be. Unfortunately when he entered the pool building, after what seemed like a million steps, there were only a few kids in there and once of which was Ashton. Michael rolled his eyes away from him when he seen Ashton looking at him and then he was reaching for the door again.

When he entered the Chapel it was just as depressing and dim as always except for this time there was sound. The sound of the organ being played echoed throughout the whole placed and Michael started thinking that maybe the organ player was just in here practicing and Luke liked to listen to it. It was a calming sound and Michael could picture Luke sitting in one of the pews as he faced forward but it wasn’t like that at all when he opened the 2nd set of doors. The beautiful music got louder but the boy playing the music was even more beautiful.

Michael leaned against the wall as he felt like his legs would give out. Luke was moving his hands quickly over the keys as the song got more intense and he started to recognize it from one of their church services. So Luke did pay attention during Chapel. Michael desperately wanted to walk over to him but he knew Luke was in here for a reason. It must soothe him to be able to play here and maybe he did want to be alone.

Michael really wasn’t sure how he dealt with things like this and he didn’t want to make things worse. He was kind of torn as he leaned against the cold wall. He didn’t exactly have a ton of time to spare before his parents got here but he also wanted to give Luke his time alone if he needed it. Suddenly Luke stopped playing and Michael like his heart had stopped as Luke looked back at him. His eyes were glossy looking and his hair a mess like he had been pulling at it. Michael was even more nervous now.

“Luke….” Was all he managed to get out and he felt stupid. He sounded so weak and Luke here was the one who was dealing with something…not him. He tried to pull himself together as Luke was still just staring at him with a straight face. He started walking towards the boy and then felt himself relaxing a bit when Luke looked back down at the keys and began playing the Jaws theme with every step that Michael took. Michael let out a small giggle and went up the 3 steps to join Luke. Luke stopped playing it and then moved over on the bench and Michael took it as a good sign as he nestled in next to him. Their arms were touching and just that simple touch had Michael getting butterflies in his stomach. Luke could do that to him and he had that urge to hold Luke’s hand again so he stared down at it as it was resting on his thigh. Michael gulped and carefully grabbed it as he threaded their fingers together. Thankfully Luke gave his hand a squeeze and started rubbing his thumb over Michael’s fingers. Michael was looking up at Luke’s face the whole time he was doing this, just touching Michael because he wanted to and Michael felt the goosebumps began to form. “Are you okay, Luke?” Michael whispered, not wanting to scare the boy since it was now so quiet in there. Luke began to nod as he still looked down at their hands.

“I am now” Michael pinched his eyes shut at those words and he didn’t understand why he was so close to crying. He just couldn’t believe he had the ability to make Luke feel better. He couldn’t help it as he put his other hand softly on the Luke’s cheek that was the furthest away from him and kissed his other cheek as Luke was still looking down. Luke leaned into him as Michael’s lips touched his cheek again and his thumb traced the outline of his jaw.

The boy sniffled and Michael felt his heart breaking and he started putting kisses all over the boys cheek and down his jaw just trying to comfort him in some way. Michael was a bit surprised when Luke leaned forward even more and wrapped his arms around the boys shoulders. Michael held him tight around his torso and felt Luke nuzzling into his neck. They had never hugged and Michael wished they would a lot more often.

“Luke…” he said in the same weak tone as before as he rubbed circles on his back.

“It’s stupid” Luke mumbled, knowing that Michael was wondering what was wrong.

“It’s not. Nothing you say will ever be stupid, Luke” he felt Luke smile against his skin and he was still smiling as he pulled away and faced Michael.

“My mom” he took a deep breath “My mom always calls me a day before Christmas break to ask if I’m coming home …even though she always knows that I won’t but she still hasn’t called me”

“Well maybe she knew that it would just make her sad if she did try to call you. I know that she still wants you to go home even if she didn’t call you”

“I mean it’s not like I was planning on going home anyways” Luke laughed to himself and it had seemed like years since he had “But a call still would have been nice”

“I’m sorry” Michael said quietly as he rubbed a hand through Luke’s hair “But I have an idea that might cheer you up?” that had Luke instantly looking up and there was a smile forming.

“Yeah?” and he was starting to do a crooked grin and then Michael understood what he was thinking and quickly shook his head

“No” he giggled “Not that…we’ll have plenty of time for that later though” Luke turned his head a little like a confused puppy so Michael went on “I asked my mom if you could come stay with us during break and she agreed to it” Michael knew how over excited he sounded but he didn’t even care. He just hoped Luke liked the idea of it too.

“But….” Luke looked shocked as he looked everywhere except for Michael “Are you sure? I mean I wouldn’t want to intrude”

“You won’t be intruding. I’ll miss you way too much if you don’t come”

“Well if you insist” Luke smiled shyly and leaned forward to lock his lips with Michael’s. This break was going to be unforgettable and it gave Michael excitement just thinking about it.

*

  
They were sitting on the same bench that Michael was sitting on that time Luke came to pick him up and Luke was bouncing his leg up and down as the suitcase sat near his feet. They hadn’t said much since they sat down and it wasn’t normal for Luke to just not start a conversation.

“What’s wrong?” Michael asked cautiously

“Nothing” Luke said sticking out his bottom lip “I’m freezing my ass off” Michael laughed a little but he knew there was something else so he put one arm around Luke and brushed his fingers against his arm. That had Luke looking at him and Michael could clearly see the worry all over his face now. “Parents usually aren’t big fans of me” Luke said now looking down at his lap

“My parents will love you. I know they will”

“Yeah…We’ll see” Luke slightly smiled but it made Michael worry about him less. Soon there was a familiar car pulling up and Michael had to admit that he was a bit excited to see their faces again. He could tell Luke was tensing up next to him a little so he rubbed his back and then they were walking towards the car. Michael noticed that it was only his mom in the car and she rolled down the passenger window.

“Put your bags in the trunk boys” she shouted as the trunk was popped open. Michael and Luke made their way towards the back of the car and did just that and then they were sliding in the back. Michael of course could have sat in the front but he just wanted to be close to Luke, especially since he knew Luke was nervous about this whole situation. Suddenly Michael’s mom was turning around in her seat and smiling at Luke “Well hello. I’m Karen and you must be Luke?”

“Yes ma’am” he nodded and then she was reaching out a hand for them to shake. Michael figured the hardest part was over and let out a breath for Luke’s sake.

“Well it’s very nice to meet you, Luke”

“You too” he said quickly and then she was facing the front again. Michael lightly slapped Luke’s knee and Luke wished he would have kept his hand there. It was comforting. Karen kept asking Michael questions about school as Luke just looked at the scenery as it passed but thankfully Michael could tell he was starting to relax. Every now and then he would crack a smile at something Karen said or he would playfully bump his knee into Michael’s. Michael couldn’t wait to get home and spend all this free time with Luke and to also just be free of the stress of school and having to wait until the end of the day to see Luke. Now he would just be able to wake up and see him every day. He knew he wasn’t going to want this break to ever end.

The familiarly of his hometown began to wash over him as he stared out the window and took in all the brick buildings and old convenient stores. There were pines trees that lined the edge of the streets and Michael did feel himself getting excited to be home. It would be nice to sleep in his own bed, sleep in as long as he wanted, be able to just wake up and go relax on the couch as he ate his breakfast and watched TV.

He was so focused on being excited about Luke coming with him that he didn’t even think about all the other perks. He glanced over to see Luke with his head against the window as his eyes flickered all over. His blue hair was beginning to fade into more of a light blue and Michael had never seen Luke being this quiet for a long period of time like this. Michael hoped he wasn’t nervous anymore and he sneakily reached his hand over to rub it soothingly over his thigh. Luke met his eyes and smiled without showing his teeth but it wasn’t a nervous kind of smile and Michael ruffled his hair before returning the smile.

“Do you have a dog?” Luke asked in a hopeful voice and Michael had to suppress a laugh.

“Yeah I have a dog. His name is Napoleon”

“Like Napoleon Dynamite?” Luke scrunched up his face but Michael shook his head.

“No he’s named after this movie I used to watch all the time as a kid”

“What was it about?”

“Well this puppy, a talking puppy I may add, was at a birthday party and he jumps in this basket that has balloons on it then the basket ends up coming unhooked or something so it takes him into the air and fly’s him way into the desert where he meets this bird and then they have all these adventures in the desert while the puppy is trying to get home” Luke was squinting at Michael like it was the dumbest thing he had ever said and then he was letting out a laugh “Hey” Michael pouted, feeling a bit offended “Don’t poke fun. It was a good film”

“A puppy wouldn’t even last a day in the desert. Any animal that isn’t from the desert couldn’t survive there”

“Well it was a good movie okay? And I don’t appreciate you putting it down like that” Michael acted as if he was really sad about it but Luke knew he wasn’t.

“I just can’t believe they spread lies like that to children” Michael smiled and rolled his eyes away as they were pulling into his driveway. The split level house looked exactly like it did when Michael left and there was a thin layer of snow covering the ground. Michael got out first and went to the back of the car to grab his bag and he was about to grab Luke’s bag to hand him it but then Luke was rounding the corner of the car and standing next to him. “I ummm” Luke looked like he was struggling with words again and it was such a new thing for Michael. Luke always seemed so sure of himself. “I really appreciate all of this, Michael. You know…letting me stay with you and all”

“Well I appreciate you agreeing to it” Michael smiled “I don’t know what I would have done if you had said no. I probably would have had to kidnap you honestly” Luke let out one of his low chuckles and slung his bag over one shoulder.

“I wouldn’t have ever said ‘no’” Luke said softly before pressing a kiss to Michael’s cheek and walking away. Michael felt himself blushing as he ran his fingers over his cheek where Luke’s lips had just been and then ran around to catch up to him.

*

The smell of his home was making Michael feel so comfortable and relaxed. The TV was flashing in the mostly dark living room, except for the table light, and he could smell food cooking the kitchen. He knew he would have a very hard time going back to school after this break, for a lot of reasons. Luke and Michael both took off their shoes and then there was a white fluffy dog merging from the hallway and Michael watched Luke’s face light right up.

“You must be Napoleon” Luke said rubbing his ears and getting him all riled up as the dog wagged his tail and sitting on Luke’s feet.

“Dinner will be ready soon boys so don’t go running off anywhere” Karen called over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen.

“He’s so fluffy” Luke laughed as the dog was still desperately wanting his attention.

“Yeah he’s getting his winter fur” Michael was still taking in the sight of his house and then walking forward a little “Do you wanna watch TV or something?” Michael turned around and rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn’t used to having all this free time with Luke and it made him nervous that he would bore him or something. Luke was always in charge of finding stuff for them to do but now that it was Michael’s house it was his job to entertain him and he just hoped he didn’t let Luke down.

“Yeah” Luke nodded and began walking “Come on Napoleon” Luke put on his “dog voice” again and Michael really didn’t expect him to be such a dog person. He knew there would probably be a lot of things about Luke that he would discover during this break and he couldn’t wait. Luke was sitting forward and petting down the dogs neck but then he was turning to Michael as he was changing the channels. Michael felt Luke’s eyes on him and his cheeks were heating up but he decided not to look until he settled on a channel. Mostly because he just loved having Luke’s eyes on him. Finally Michael looked back.

“What?” he said shyly. Luke opened his mouth to say something then he was glancing into the kitchen to see Karen walking out of the back entrance of it and into the hallway. He smiled then quickly, but not too quickly, leaned into Michael and gave him a kiss. Luke originally planned on it being just a quick kiss so they didn’t get caught but then Michael was grabbing a hold of the back of his neck and bringing him back in for a much more eager kiss and Luke of course couldn’t help but give in.

The kiss lasted a few more seconds and Luke got a little scared when he felt himself getting hard in his jeans. The last thing he wanted was going to diner with a boner so he pulled back and then looked down at his lap and Michael understood as a bit his lip and muttered a “sorry” Luke gave him a quick kiss then leaned back into the couch. Suddenly the front door was open and Luke knew straight away that it was Michael’s dad so found himself scooting away from Michael a little but he wasn’t sure why. Maybe because he was practically sitting Michael’s lap.

“Hello Michael” Luke turned to see Michael just giving his father a slight nod and it worried him. “Well who is this?” Luke focused back on the older man and then stood up quickly before reaching out his hand.

“Luke Hemmings” he made sure to grasp the man’s hand firmly like he was always taught to when shaking someone’s hand and he tried to seem confident and not nervous.

“Daryl. It’s nice to meet you, Luke” he gave him a smile and then he was going into the kitchen. Luke sat back down and Michael was still just looking tiredly at the TV. He had a feeling that Michael and his dad didn’t get along too well. Luke was about to ask if he was okay but then Karen was coming into the living room.

“Dinner is ready boys” she still had one oven glove on her hand as she turned back around and then Michael was sitting up and looking for Luke to follow him.

There were a few words exchanged between Michael’s parents when they were at the dinner table but Michael didn’t say a single word and Luke began to get worried as more time went on. He just wished this diner would end already and him and Michael could be alone. He wanted to comfort him. Soon Michael’s parents were standing up and discarding their dishes into the sink before leaving the kitchen. Luke instantly looked to Michael as he patted his knees to get his attention.  
“Do you wanna go up to my room?” Michael said keeping his eyes on his plate as he finished his food and Luke nodded.

Michael’s room was quite large and it was at the very back of the house with no other rooms even a couple feet from it. It had posters all over and his dark blue comforter looked extremely comfortable. Luke let his eyes roam all over it and then settled his eyes on the guitar in the corner. He saw Michael sitting against the headboard of his bed with his knees up. Michael already looked better than he had downstairs and Luke could see he was already more relaxed as soon as he was away from his father. Luke knew that’s what was making him feel uneasy because Michael was totally fine before his dad came home.

“Do you play?” Michael said curiously and Luke nodded as he went to go pick the guitar up. He leaned against Michael’s legs for a few seconds just missing the contact with him then he sat up so he could hold the guitar properly and just started playing random parts of certain songs. “I bet you have a beautiful voice” Michael practically whispered and he really didn’t mean to even say that out loud so he quickly looked down to avoid blushing even more. He glanced up to see Luke smiling at him and then he was shaking his head.

“Hardly” he mumbled while trying not to, and failing miserably, blush at Michael’s words.

“Somehow I doubt that” Michael’s words made Luke bite at his lip a little as he looked down at his lap but then he was focusing up on Michael.

“If I sing you something will it make you feel better?”

“Luke” Michael did a chuckle and shook his head in amazement “If you sing to me I don’t think I’ll ever be sad again in my entire life” he knew it sounded cheesy the second it left his lips but it was true. Even if Luke had the worst voice in the world (which he somehow knew he wouldn’t) it would still mean everything to him to hear Luke sing to him. Luke took a deep breath and then he was looking out the window as the rain started to fall. Michael continued looking at his face though and then Luke was doing a small smirk before looking back at the guitar. As soon as Luke began playing the [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udmoKfofTwE) Michael already felt like he could cry at how beautiful it sounded and Luke hadn’t even started singing yet. He put his knees down and sat cross legged so he could be closer to Luke.

_When the rain set in we had nowhere left to go_

_So we just stayed in bed while the thunder rolled_

_There’s a comfort in the rain, one that lovers only know_

_So we lay hand in hand while the water rose_

Michael let out a breath and realized he had been holding it the entire time Luke was singing and yet again he was feeling like all the air was being taken from him with every word that Luke sang and Michael kept shifting his eyes from Luke’s fingers going across the string to the way his mouth moved and the way his jaw tightened when he sang certain words.

_Every season will turn til’ the world is upside down, rivers overflow then go underground_

_But in the eye of the storm, in the safety of this house, we lay hand in hand while the world turns wrong_

Michael had to use every muscle in his body to stay sat against the headboard so he wouldn’t lean forward and kiss Luke until he couldn’t breathe. He didn’t want Luke to ever stop singing to him.

_So keep us and keep us_

_And keep us from the storm_

Luke looked up for the first time since he started the song while he was still strumming the strings and Michael felt a tear running down his face. He didn’t even understand why he was crying but he quickly wiped it away with his sleeve. Luke smiled and did a kissy face at him at attempts to make him stop crying and Michael giggled into his hands. Luke was perfect.

_There’s a lesson in the rain that change will always come_

_Let us ride this wave and then greet the sun_

_And though the ground may shake and we’ll think we’ve had enough_

Luke looked straight at Michael again and this time sang the words right to him.

_We must raise our flags for the ones we love_

And Michael almost said it…he almost let the words “I love you” slip from his lips but he was worried it was too soon and it would completely ruin this perfect moment. He couldn’t even think of a moment that he felt happier than he did sitting there on his bed with Luke while he sang to him. He knew he could listen to Luke sing all day and he still couldn’t believe how beautiful he sounded. After the song was finished Luke put the guitar on the floor and leaned it against the bedside table. Michael was still absolutely speechless.

“Do you feel better?” Even Luke’s talking voice was so calming.

“Yeah” Michael’s voice came out sounding rough and he hoped Luke didn’t think they were sad tears that were on his face.

“Then why are you crying?” Luke practically whispered it as he got closer to Michael and stroked his thumb against his cheek. He closed his eyes at Luke’s touch.

“You’re so beautiful” was the only answer that Michael had. He was crying because Luke was perfect and he was so beautiful and he still couldn’t believe that he got the chance to be with him like this. Luke eagerly leaned forward but softly brought Michael’s lips against his own as he had both hands holding Michael’s face. Michael put his hands on Luke’s hips and then he was bringing him into his lap. This was heaven, Michael thought to himself; having Luke in his lap like this and Luke’s hands now rubbing in his hair in a massaging type of manor and Michael let out a quiet moan.

“You mean so fucking much to me, Michael” Luke said quietly and close to his ear before he started putting kisses all down his neck then moving on to sucking on the skin just above his collarbone. Michael sucked in a breath and started putting his hands under Luke’s shirt on his back, just needing to touch him. He could never get enough of Luke. Michael softly rolled them over so that they were both on their sides laying down and they were just staring at each other “We should just run away so we never have to go back to school” Luke said with a straight face but Michael cracked a smile.

“Can we visit California?”

“We can go anywhere you want” Luke said simply as he pushed Michael’s hair off his forehead.

“Let’s do it” Michael said with a smile but then it faded a bit when he started thinking about something else. It had been bothering him for quite some time now and him and Luke hadn’t talked about it yet “Umm do you remember my first day?”

“I do” Luke smiled and leaned forward to kiss his cheek “As soon as I seen you I knew there was something I liked about you”

“Really?” Michael looked so hopeful and he knew he had this dopey smile on his face.

“Yeah really” Luke chuckled. 

“So you saw me….” Michael decided to get right to the point “You saw me checking you out? I mean of course you did. You looked right at me” Michael mentally hit himself in the head. He didn’t even understand exactly what he was trying to achieve from having this conversation but he just knew he wanted to talk about it.

“I did see you” Luke let out a louder laugh “I also saw you looking at me when I was swimming” Michael’s eye widened and he felt so much embarrassment at that moment.

“Shit” He rubbed his face “I bet you thought I was being so creepy”

“Not even close” Luke said confidently “I liked feeling your eyes on me” he laughed to himself a little “I still do. I like doing things and knowing that you’re watching me. I don’t know…it feels like what I do is important. Even if it’s something as simple as walking over to get a cup of coffee or….walking around the locker room bare ass” They both let out a laugh at that and Michael got closer so he could snuggle up against Luke’s chest. Luke held him tight and kissed the top of his head as he ran his fingers through his hair until they were both asleep.


	8. Day 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know in the comments I love them so much <3 and thank you to everyone who has stuck by this fic. I never planned on it being this long but here we are lmao I already have the ending planned and everything so you don't have to worry about me dropping this. Also fun fact (well actually its very sad) the Bailey Bridge is actually a real place in my life. It's supposedly haunted because 3 kids from the high school that I graduated from all died there over a period of 2 years...pretty fucking weird and 2 of them died within 2 months of each other. I've only been there once but I tell you what I never wanted to go again. It was eerie as hell. No one cares but I just thought I'd share that.

Michael opened his eyes the next morning and no longer felt Luke’s arms around him and he was a little sad to say the least. He put his hand in the empty spot of the bed and just stared at the ceiling for a few minutes until he started to smell the wonderful aroma of pancakes and something else of the breakfast sort. He thought it was a little strange since his mom never cooked breakfast. She was always out of the house before he woke up and didn’t come back until the late evening. Michael guessed he shouldn’t have expected any different when he came back. His mom had always done that and she didn’t work so he had no idea what she did all day honestly. He never thought to ask because, truthfully, he liked being home alone and his parents always left the extra car in the garage so he could go where he pleased.

He dragged himself out of bed, took a quick shower and then slipped his grey sweatpants back on before making his way down the stairs where the smell of delicious food was even stronger. Michael expected Luke to be sitting on the couch watching TV or something of that sort but he was nowhere in sight. He made his way into the kitchen and Luke was leaning over the stove while whistling a tune.

Michael smiled wide as he leaned against the archway as he watched him pour more pancake mix into the pan and then he was going over to the fridge. Michael cleared his throat and catching Luke’s attention. The boys’ eyes were bright under the kitchen lights and his smiled instantly at the huge smirk Michael had on his face.

“Good morning” Luke said in a song like tone

“Morning” Michael rubbed at his eyes a little and started walking towards Luke who was turning back to the stove as he quickly flipped the pancake. Michael walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around his torso just because he already missed his touch. This whole scene felt so domestic and Michael loved it. He put a few soft kisses on the back of Luke’s neck until he felt goosebumps beginning to form and then he held him tighter and just rested against him.

“Did you sleep good?” Michael just nodded in response and then he noticed what was wrapped around Luke and he giggled as he let go of him.

“Is that my mom’s apron?”

“Yeah” Luke said shrugging and turning around to face him “Oh and speaking of your mother she said she’ll be home around 6”

“You talked to my mom?” Michael raised his eyebrows

“Mhm” Luke hummed “We had a nice little chat. She brought out the baby pictures, I helped her do the dishes and we also talked about how much potential you have over a nice cup of tea” Michael knew that tone and he let out breathy laugh as he looked up at the ceiling and rubbed his hands over his face.

“You’re too much” Michael shook his head in disbelief “And take this off” he started tugging at the apron “You remind me of my mother and it’s freaking me out”

“No” Luke playfully slapped his hands away “Now go take a seat dear” Michael rolled his eyes but listened none the less. He was pretty hungry and if Luke wanted to act like his mother and make him breakfast then he was okay with that. As long as Luke didn’t start making him do chores.

“So I’m guessing you’re an earlier riser?” Michael casually said as he rubbed at his bare chest.

“I guess I’m just used to getting up early so it automatically happens” Luke’s normal voice was back now as he set at plate of pancakes on the counter in front of Michael and then grabbed the syrup and butter.

“How did you know where everything was?”

“I asked your mom. I told her I wanted to cook you breakfast” Luke walked around the counter and was now settling next to Michael on the stool.

“Well thank you” Michael leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek then Luke was turning and kissing him on the lips and Michael melted into it instantly “It’s been a while since I had a nice breakfast”

“I wish we just had our own personal kitchens in our dorm rooms. I’d cook you breakfast everyday if we did” Michael was about take a bite of his pancake but then he was just staring at Luke with heart eyes. How was he so perfect? He watched Luke taking off the apron then wadding it up on the counter before he starting eating along with Michael and Michael did really wish they could do this every morning.

Hell, he wished he could do it every morning for the rest of his life. That thought came at him suddenly and he tried not to get too ahead of himself but he knew that he loved Luke. He loved him so much and he knew Luke cared a lot about him too. Michael wanted to wait for Luke to say “I love you” first but he didn’t know if he would be able to. If this break went as well as it seemed it would and Luke kept being as lovely as he has been since day one then by the end of this break Michael felt like he would getting down on one knee to propose. It seemed drastic but Michael really could see himself being with Luke for the rest of his life. Suddenly the front door was being slammed open and Luke and Michael both about fell out of their chairs from being surprised at the loud noise.

“A FULL DAY? YOU HAVE BEEN HERE A FULL DAY AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN FUCKING CALL ME ARE YOU SHITTING ME RIGHT NOW?” Michael laughed out loudly and Luke was giving him a questioning look as to who was yelling through his house but Michael just finished off his pancake then held up one finger.

“Wait for the coat rack” there was a loud banging noise onto the tile floor

“Damn it! Why do you still have that piece of shit coat rack?”

“He always trips over it” Michael laughed “It’s not even in the way”

“So Michael guess who told me that you were even here…Your dumb ass neighbor that’s who” the voice was now in the living room and getting closer and Michael was actually really happy to see his friend. “You know the one who spies on everyone. I seen her in the corner store last night…” Derek was now standing in the archway as he leaned against it “And she’s all ‘Hello dear you’re friend Michael came home last night’”

“That’s a bit creepy” Michael snickered

“It is but the moral of the story is that you didn’t call me and let me know you were home...nope. I had to hear it from her wrinkly old ass” Luke chose to take a sip of his apple juice at the wrong time because he tried not to laugh at the last thing that Derek had said and ended up choking on it a bit then he put his hand over his eyes as he silently chuckled. “And you also didn’t even introduce me to your friend. Which is also rude” Derek went on and Michael was about to open his mouth but then Derek was walking in front of the counter and eyeing Luke with a small smile. “I’m Derek by the way” Luke reached out to shake his hand and then cleared his throat a little as he was still laughing.

“Luke”

“Oooooh” Derek smiled wide and raised an eyebrow at Michael before focusing back on Luke “So _you’re_ Luke. It’s nice to meet you”

“Yeah” Luke did a short laugh as he looked at Michael quickly “It’s nice to meet you too”

“So have you been keeping Michael in line?” Derek said being completely serious but Michael died laughing at that “What’s funny?”

“Him keep _me_ in line? Him?” Michael said pointing a thumb at Luke and Luke was blushing like crazy before he walked away to put his dish in the sink. Michael realized right then that Derek had no idea of how much trouble Luke caused and he really didn’t even know anything about Luke. The only thing Derek did know was that Luke was the reason Michael absolutely didn’t hate going to that school. “Luke was causing trouble long before I got there”

“Aren’t you scared of getting the ‘paddle’?” Derek said in a scared voice as he turned to Luke who was leaning against the sink. Luke shook his head with a slight smile.

“Oh so you’re the one who is responsible for getting that thought in Michael’s head?” Luke teased as he pointed a finger at him.

“Yeah” Derek shrugged “It’s true isn’t it?” Michael tried not to laugh as he could see some other character over taking Luke and he knew what he was going to do. Luke took a deep breath and then nodded with a straight face.

“It is actually. Two days after Michael got there he decided to go into the forbidden woods and then the Headmaster was taking him into his office” Luke made it seem like he was getting worked up “I remember seeing the Headmaster dragging him in there and then I could hear Michael’s muffled cries from behind the door but he took the punishment like a champ. I’m very proud of him for that but every time we go near the woods I always see him cringe a bit at the memory of what happened when he went in there” Michael was trying hard not to laugh but couldn’t help it when he seen Derek’s jaw dropped and looking like he just witnessed someone getting hit by a car.

“Is he…” Derek turned to face Michael and looked back at Luke with a still shocked look on his face “Is he serious?” For a second Michael wanted to just put Derek out of his misery and tell him the truth and that Luke was totally telling a fib but then he looked up and seen Luke smirking at him. Michael had the sudden want to impress Luke and make him proud so he decided to go along with it.

“Yeah…” Michael cleared his throat and made a straight face “Worst pain of my life and it will make me think twice before I break the rules again…that’s for sure”

“Shit” Derek looked away “That’s fucking brutal”

“Mhm” Michael said smiling as he took a drink of his water and glanced up. Luke winked at him and then walked back over to sit on the stool.

“So physical punishment aside...” Luke drifted off “What is there to do for fun around here?”

“Oh! That’s actually kind of why I came over here” Derek’s sad face had went away and he was getting excited “Tonight Riley is having some big party at his house…you remember Riley right?”

“Somewhat” Michael nodded

“So you’ll come? I mean you look like you need a drink if I’m being honest” Michael rolled his eyes at that. It was a nice way of Derek telling him that he looked like shit.

“I just woke up asshole” Michael said sharply and it had Luke turning his head to look at him

“Or has that Prep School done a number on you and now you’re too good to drink with your best friend?” Derek smirked and Michael didn’t understand why he was all of a sudden being like this.

“Fuck you” Michael said with a slight laugh “Just quit being a smartass and I’ll go” then he turned to Luke “I mean do you want to go?”

“I could drink” Luke shrugged and then Derek was clapping his hands together.

“So it’s settled” Michael started to think of how this would go down… Luke, his new friend, would be around all the kids that Michael used to be friends with and he hoped Luke wouldn’t feel overwhelmed being around a bunch of people he didn’t even know. This night would be interesting for sure.

*

  
Michael let Luke have the front seat of Derek’s car so it was them two talking during the whole ride over to Riley’s. Michael stayed pretty silent as he just took in the views of his hometown and decided to savor it while it lasted. He was happy that Luke and Derek were getting along so well. They kept talking about conspiracy theories and really deep shit like that that him and Luke never talked about. It was Derek’s thing, and apparently Luke’s too, but Michael never got into stuff of that sort. He was happy that Derek had someone to talk to about it though.

“This gas station…this gas station right here” Derek’s excited voice came into play as he kept pointing at it and Michael already knew the story he was going to tell

“Last Christmas me and Michael stole 3 packs of beer from there and, somehow by the grace of God, got away with it”

“Bullshit” Luke looked at him with a straight face as he tested him a little bit.

“No I’m serious” Derek said quickly “We just walked in there with really big coats and stuffed them in there and walked out. The security is just nonexistent and apparently kids steal shit from there all the time so me and Michael decided to try it once”

“Well shit I didn’t know I was in a car with a couple of thieves” Luke said in a serious tone but it had Derek cracking up and Luke let out a chuckle. “Fucking Bonnie and Clyde over here” Luke pointed back to Michael and it made Derek laugh even more.

“I’m Clyde though” Michael leaned up a bit to be closer to them

“You wish” Derek said in a high pitched voice as he laughed “You’re Bonnie. Deal with it”

“Well I don’t want to be Bonnie-“

“Well you are” Derek giggled out again

“Alright alright” Luke said putting his hands up “They were both total badasses and besides…” Luke turned around and looked at Michael “Bonnie was a total babe” all Luke did was wink and Michael felt himself getting worked up and he knew he was blushing. Luke ruffled his hair then sat forward again.

“Hey….” Derek said defensively “Clyde was good looking as well”

“No he wasn’t” Luke did a loud laugh “He had abnormally big ears and just a strange looking face in general”

“So it’s pretty fitting then” Michael said as he leaned forward and messed with one of Derek’s ears

“Fuck you guys”

  
*

When they were getting closer to Riley’s house Michael actually forgot how far out in the sticks it really was. There were deep woods with tall pine trees on either side of the road and it was a bit creepy feeling. It seemed like the kind of area that was in horror movies when teenagers cars would break down. Michael tried not to think of it though. The house was not how Michael remembered it either. It was a very large white Victorian styled house.

There were kids sitting on the deck with their legs hanging between the railings and kids sitting on the porch below looking like they were on some serious drugs. Maybe Michael didn’t feel like partying after all. All of a sudden Luke was opening his door with a worried look on his face.

“You alright?” he asked as he leaned both of his arms on the door to look at Michael. Michael just nodded and quickly stepped out of the door. Him and Luke were walking side by side as Derek yelled up at people on the deck as he was a few steps ahead of them and the music coming from the house just seemed to get louder and louder. Suddenly Derek was opening the front door and 2 guys brought him into some group hug and then they were dragging him inside. Michael had a feeling it would be just Luke and him the rest of the night but he was completely okay with that.

“You know…” Michael said as they stood on the front porch “I’ve never seen you drunk before”

“Oh I’m a fucking riot” Luke said with a cheeky grin on his face and then he was putting one hand on the small of Michael’s back and leading them into the house. Weirdly enough Riley was coming up to him the second he stepped in the house and Michael almost forgot what he looked like.

“Michael fucking Clifford” Riley said dragging it out as he grinned wide and slapped him on the arm

“Hey man” Michael looked around as he said it but then focused back on Riley.

“I still can’t believe what happened to you man” Michael knew where Riley was going and he really just wanted to walk away from all of this “I don’t think that anyone in a million years would have guessed that Max would throw you under the bus like that. That was fucked up” Michael cringed at his name and he was really starting to lose his patience with this conversation. He knew Riley was totally wasted but he still felt like punching him in the face for bringing that whole thing up.

“Well it’s in the past you know? What can you do?” Michael shrugged it off like it was nothing but it still ate away at him. He could feel Luke’s confused eyes on him but he refused to look at him.

“It was still shitty man. I want you to know….” Riley got closer and pointed right in his face “That when you left I totally beat his ass” Michael just nodded. He didn’t believe it for a second though. Max had 20 pounds on Riley and could easily beat him to a pulp if he wanted to. Riley was practically a stick and Max had a fair amount of muscle along with being close to 6 foot. He knew Riley was lying out of his ass.

“Oh Riley…this is my friend Luke by the way” Michael was very sick of talking about that whole situation.

“Well hello Luke” Riley stood up straight and Michael rolled his eyes at how he was so obviously checking Luke out. It made him a bit pissed if he was being honest.

“Hi” Luke chuckled a little and Michael knew he was catching onto it too.

“Well I have to go tend to my party. Duty calls” Riley ruffled Michael’s hair and he fixed it the second Riley was turned around.

“What a jackass” Michael mumbled and Luke was shaking his head and smiling as he looked around the room. They soon started walking towards the kitchen in the back of the house and soon they both had beers in their hands without even asking for one. Michael had kind of forgotten how these parties worked if he was being honest. Him and Luke both leaned against the counter as Luke was already downing his 2nd beer and then Derek was making his way over to them.

“You guys look like you’re having a fucking blast” he said sarcastically. He was already buzzed and it kind of amazed Michael how fast he could start getting drunk.

“Yup” Michael mumbled behind his beer “I also talked to Riley and that was a fucking blast too”

“What do you mean?” Derek put on his serious face and stood in front of Michael “What did he say to you?”

“Nothing” Michael felt like he didn’t want to talk about it and regretted even bringing it up “It doesn't matter”

“Oh. Shit” Michael knew Derek had caught on and just hoped he wouldn’t press it any further but he knew he would so he gripped harder on his beer and closed his eyes as he could feel Luke’s on him again. “He brought up Max didn’t he?”

“Mhm” Michael said through gritted teeth as he looked around the crowd of people entering the kitchen.

“Well he was obviously just drunk. You know he wouldn’t have brought that up if he was sober”

“I know” Michael said quickly. This party was turning out to be more terrible than he imagined it would be.

“Come on, let’s head outside” Derek started pulling at Michael’s arm

“It’s like fucking 20 degrees out”

“I know but I gotta smoke” Derek whined but then Luke was nodding. “See Luke wants to go smoke too. We won’t be out there long”

“Fine” Michael was only going because Luke wanted to and then they were letting Derek lead them out the back door.

*

It was completely dark out now as small little flakes of snow fell and Michael felt himself smiling remembering that night him and Luke just laid on the ground in the middle of the quad as the snow fell on them. He knew it was something he would remember for the rest of his life and he looked at Luke and smiled after feeling happiness for the first time since they got there. Luke smiled back and brought out a lighter to light the cigarette between his mouth then he was lighting Derek’s for him too.

“You know I don’t think it’s really all that cold out” Derek said in his beanie and thick coat while Michael was shivering in his coat that wasn’t zipped up. He glared at Derek and then Luke was standing in front of him as he zipped his coat up for him so that it was almost reaching his chin.

“Feel better?” Luke said rubbing his hands in a fast motion up and down Michael’s arms. Michael felt like just leaning forward and pressing his body into him but instead he just nodded and didn’t want to creep Derek out. After, all Derek didn’t even know that they were more than friends, even though Michael was sure that he would realize it sooner or later with how obvious they were.

Once they were inside surprisingly they were all laughing as they were walking towards the living room but then Michael stopped right in his tracks while Luke and Derek just kept walking, not noticing that he had stopped. Michael could feel his heartbeat picking up as he looked at the figure in the one of the corners of the living room. His back was turned but Michael knew it was him with his green jackets and his backwards black snapback he was always wearing. The boy slightly turned to his right to smile at something someone said to him and then Michael was panicking even more. Any minute the boy could turn around and see him and Michael felt like just running over there and punching him square in the face and then leaving. That was literally all he felt like doing.

“Michael” Luke was shaking him and Michael could tell by his tone that he had said it several times before “Michael what’re you looking at?” Michael shook himself out of it then he was turning to look at Derek as he flexed his jaw and Derek widened his eyes in fear.

“You said….” Michael began and then he was taking a breath “You said he moved schools Derek. What-what the hell is he doing here?”

“Who?” Derek practically yelled in a high pitched voice and then he was looking around the room.

“Max! Who the fuck do you think?” Michael knew he was yelling and he knew he was making Luke even more confused than before but he just couldn’t stop freaking out.

“What? He’s here?” Derek said as he widened his eyes again and started scanning the room and Michael went back to staring at him hoping that Derek would see him too. Max was now turned to face them completely as his hands were in his jacket pockets and he smiled wide showing his dimples. Michel cringed again and closed his eyes and looked away. “Oh fuck” Derek said loud enough to be heard from three feet away from him and Michael knew that he had found Max. “Fuck, Michael” Derek focused back on his friend “I honestly have no clue what he is doing here”

“Okay well let’s just leave okay? I don’t want him coming over to talk to me or something” Michael spoke quickly and Luke was already nodding even though he had no idea what was going on.

“Oh shit” Derek’s scared tone had Michael becoming terrified and he was almost scared to even look up to see what was happening but he did and he greatly regretted it. Max was staring straight at him and Michael felt like crying as he kept moving his eyes away but they somehow always ended up back on Max.

“Michael?” Luke had his hands on Michael’s neck making him look at him and Michael was so happy that Luke stood in front of him, blocking Max’s view of him. Michael started blinking again then he was looking down at the floor.

“Let’s just leave” he whispered but he knew Luke heard him “Can we please just leave?”

“Of course” Luke said quickly but still using his soft tone “Let’s go”

“Shit shit shit” Derek began to mumble and then he was fast walking out of the living room and Michael and Luke both watched him with confused looks on their face but Michael understood why he walked away as fast as he could when Max was standing directly behind Luke and smiling wide.

“Well well well” Michael watched Luke’s jaw clench and then he was turning around but still sticking close to Michael’s side “Long time no see huh Michael?”

“Yeah and whose fault is that?” Michael spat back at him.

“You’re right” Max did one of those sinister laughs he was always doing but the thing was he never used to do them to Michael. Michael would always watch him do them to other people. “I did a shit thing but the past is the past” Michael zoned out a bit and remembered when had said that earlier to Riley. He hated that him and Max were still connected in the way that they would say the same things. It made his skin crawl. Michael watched him remove his hat to fix his dark brown hair and he seen that Luke was still watching the boys every move with his jaw clenched.

“Whatever” Michael said as he grinded his teeth and then he was walking forward and pushing past Max. He all of a sudden felt Max’s hand on his arm.

“Come on. What I did wasn’t that bad”

“Wasn’t….” Michael widened his eyes. He couldn’t believe this “Wasn’t that bad? My dad won’t even fucking look at me anymore because of you! and I was shipped off to some prep school…because of you Max!”

“Fine” Max had let go of him by now but to Michael it felt like his hand was still there “Let me buy you a drink. I probably won’t see you again for a while”

“Fuck off” Michael said coldly and then he was looking at Luke who was frantically looking between him and Max. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how confused Luke must be. Luke got knocked out of the trance he was in then he walked a few steps to be next to Michael and they were walking towards the door.

“I guess you don’t need me anymore” Max yelled to them and Michael stopped. He hated where this was going but he needed to hear what Max was going to say “It looks like you’ve got someone else to suck your dick now” and Michael began to see red. His heartbeat was picking up again but this time it was because of pure anger. He turned around and Luke was already walking towards Max who now had his back turned.

“Hey Max” Luke said in a friendly voice and Michael almost laughed at how calm he sounded. Luke was unbelievable. Max was just starting to turn around with smile on his face and the next thing Michael could register was that Max was on the ground holding his nose. Luke was walking back to him and swinging an arm around his shoulder “You ready to go?”

“Y-yeah” Michael was still looking at Max on the floor but then he felt himself smiling. That was something he had always wanted to do but he was so happy that Luke did it for him.

Luke and Michael ended up going to the Bailey bridge after Michael said he hadn’t been there in a while and since they couldn’t find Derek to take them back home. They were now sitting on top of it with their legs dangling off the sides of it and it seemed like forever since Michael was here. He tried to enjoy it but he knew he had a lot of explaining to do.

“So I’m going to guess that you’re extremely confused right now” Michael tried to force a smile as he looked at Luke.

“Confused would be one way to put it” Luke chuckled as he through a few rocks off into the water. The wind was slightly blowing his hair and Michael just had the urge to lean against him and he felt Luke’s lips on his head “I just want to know what that asshole did to you”

“Well…” Michael sat up a bit and took a deep breath of the cold air and it hurt his chest a little “It turns out a I have a thing for making friends with the troublemakers” Luke laughed a little but rubbed Michael’s back for him to continue “Me and Max became friends in 7th grade and he was the person everyone told me to stay away from but I didn’t listen. We became best friends and I watched him screw over so many people over the years but he never did it to me so I never…I don’t know I never thought anything of it. Then at the end of last year he had this plan to go spray paint the gym for whatever reason and I agreed to go with him” Michael felt himself starting to get angry as he remembered the evil smirk on Max’s face when he came out of the principal’s office “I literally didn’t even touch a single fucking can of spray paint. I just stood there and watched but when we got caught he….” Michael took another deep breath and shook his head “He blamed the entire thing on me. He said it was all my doing and all he got was a slap on the wrist while I got expelled and sent to a new school” Michael sat there waiting for Luke to say something and when he didn’t for a few minutes he turned to see him looking down at the rapid flowing river.

“I’m really sorry Michael”

“I mean the worst part was just having my friend betray me like that….but ummm…if it wouldn’t have happened then I wouldn’t have met you so I’m glad it did” Michael smiled at the side of Luke’s face and then Luke was looking at him while biting his lip. Michael missed kissing Luke so much so he was the one to lean in first. Luke straight away gripped both of his hands onto Michael’s neck and Michael whimpered a bit, wanting more when Luke put his hand only on his hip as he moved his lips in a fast pace . Michael needed Luke and he needed him now. Michael began to get even more eager as Luke starting kissing and biting roughly at his neck.

“Michael” it came out as more of a moan as Luke whispered it into his neck and it made Michael get chills.

“Y-yeah?”

“I wanna make you feel better” he said in that same husky tone and Michael started nodding in a fast motion. He just needed to be back home with Luke.

They walked back to the party and finally found Derek after searching for him for 15 minutes but he was way too drunk to drive so Luke stole his keys out of his pocket when Michael had him distracted and they were able to drag him out of there. The ride seemed to take forever and Michael started bouncing his leg up and down but then Luke was smiling and putting a hand on this thigh and Michael stopped. Luke kept his hand right above Michael’s knee the whole car ride and it was so comforting to him. They dropped Derek off at his house and then promised they would drive his car back to him the next day because there was no way they could get home otherwise.

When they got up to Michael’s room the whole house was silent because his parents weren’t home. They had left a note that they had some business dinner that was 2 hours away and wouldn’t be home until the next day and Michael was so happy for it. Michael was shyly looking down at the floor as Luke shut the bedroom door but he didn’t know why he was feeling so nervous.

“Hey” Luke said softly as he ran his fingers through Michael’s hair and then he was hooking his fingers under his chin and making him look up “What are you thinking about?” Michael looked back at Luke’s kind eyes and he realized why he was feeling so nervous. It was because he wanted something more than what they have been doing but he wasn’t sure of how to ask it without seeming too forward.

“You” Michael said simply and Luke smiled wide and started pecking soft kisses down his neck and then began running his hands underneath Michael’s shirt.

“Yeah, what about me?” Luke did one of his low chuckles into Michael’s neck.

“I really-ah fuck” Michael closed his eyes and moaned when he felt Luke’s hand going down his pants and palming him while still biting and licking at his neck “Luke I really want you to fuck me” Luke abruptly stopped everything that he was doing and Michael got a little scared at his reaction. He took his hand out of Michael’s pants and then looked him straight in the eye.

“you…you really want me to?” Luke said it like he couldn’t believe what Michael was saying but Michael knew how bad he wanted this.

“Please” Michael nodded and then Luke was bringing up both of his hands to put on Michael’s face. He trailed one of his thumbs across Michael’s lips and used the other one to rub against his skin.

“Take this off” Luke said when he moved his hands down to Michael’s torso and then they were both laying down on the bed as Luke got his and Michael’s jeans off. Luke straddled Michael and just started rubbing his hands up and down Michael’s chest, touching every inch of him before he bent down and pressed his lips at the skin right below his last rib.

Michael felt like he was in actual heaven when Luke began putting kisses all over his chest and sucking bruises everywhere. It was as if Luke couldn’t believe Michael was real and he was trying to make sense of everything.

Michael bucked up his hips a little when Luke started sucking one of his nipples while one hand had a grasp on Michael’s hip and the other for holding himself up. Michael couldn’t help but see Luke’s hard dick through his boxers and he felt like he could come just from knowing he was the one who did that to Luke. Michael had barely even touched him so just Luke being able to touch Michael was what made him hard and Michael heard himself moaning.

He reached one hand down, while Luke was still sucking at his skin, and stuck his hand down Luke’s boxers to start rubbing his fingers against it and Luke let out a soft moan as he stopped kissing his chest and began kissing his lips instead.

Luke was kissing him so eagerly and made sure his tongue touched every inch of the inside of Michael’s lips and Michael pulled down his boxers so that he could jerk him off properly. Luke did a low moan that almost sounded like a growl when Michael sped up his hand movement but Michael needed to touch him more. He brought his other hand up to begin rubbing up and down Luke’s thigh as he occasionally dug his nails into the skin making Luke fuck into his hand even harder. Michael realized that if Luke wasn’t in him soon then they would both come before they even started.

“L-Luke” Michael said against his lips

“Hmm?” Luke said quickly but then he went straight back to kissing him.

“Fuck I need you baby” Michael realized that was the first time he called Luke “baby”, or any pet name for that matter, but he knew that Luke didn’t mind at all because he made a small whimpering noise and just kissed him even harder as he dug his fingers into his hair.

“Where’s the stuff?” Luke finally sat up and he looked so beautiful and fucked out already. Michael felt like he couldn’t even talk as he looked up at Luke’s red and puffed up lips as his messy hair stuck to his forehead.

“Oh umm…” Michael looked to his left “In the first drawer” Luke leaned up a little just to grab the lube and condom out of the drawer and then he was getting lower on the bed as he began pulling Michael’s boxers all the way off. Michael watched Luke licking his lips as he started down at his dick and it got him so turned on to see how worked up Luke was getting. As Luke started coating one of his fingers in the lube Michael felt himself getting excited but with a side of nervousness. He trusted Luke so it had nothing to do with that. It was just that this was his first time doing something like this and he didn’t know what to expect. Michael was biting hard at his lip as Luke just started rubbing a finger around his rim.

“Is this your first time doing this?” Luke was looking down at him with caring eyes and Michael just simply nodded. “I’ll go slow then. I don’t wanna hurt you” Michael just closed his eyes for a few seconds and he wanted to kiss Luke so badly but Luke began putting his finger in and it totally threw his way of thinking off track.  
Soon Luke had 3 fingers pumping in and out of Michael at a steady pace with Michael moaning underneath of him. Luke kept hitting this spot that would make him see stars and he had to grip the railings on the headboard behind him just to hang onto something.

“Oh fuck….” Michael was already feeling so close “Luke I-I need more. I need you” Luke bent down to kiss him eagerly then he was carefully pulling his fingers out. Michael watched his every move as he slipped the condom on and rubbed plenty of lube on his dick.

Luke seemed to be lost in the feeling of his own hand for a few seconds because he bit his lip but then he was making himself stop and lining himself up with Michael’s hole. He was just about to start pushing in but then he took a double look down at something on the bed and Michael felt Luke lacing his fingers with his own. Luke was holding his hand and Michael rubbed his hand over his face to try and stop himself from crying. This was just all so perfect. Luke was perfect.

“You okay?” Luke asked as the head of his dick was now just resting against the other boys hole.

“Yeah…yeah…please” Michael begged and then he felt Luke pushing into him slowly while he gripped Michael’s hand harder. Michael watched Luke’s eyes flutter shut as he bottomed out and then he was letting out a breath.

“Shit….shit” Luke whispered and then he was taking his hand from Michael’s and rubbing it up and down his thigh in a comforting manor. Michael was now gripping his own hair and trying not to think about the pain. It wasn’t quite as terrible as he expected but it was definitely uncomfortable.

“Just…just give me a second” Michael managed to get out and Luke just nodded as he trailing his fingers up and down his chest. The touch was so soft that it made Michael forget about the pain. Sometimes he couldn’t believe the effect Luke had on him. “Okay…you can move” Luke double checked Michael’s face for any sort of pain and then started to steadily move in and out of him. He was still going slowly but Michael felt his body tensing up at how good it felt.

Suddenly Luke leaned down so that he was resting on his elbows and began kissing Michael’s neck as he thrusted into him a little bit faster and Michael let out a loud moan into Luke’s mouth. Luke swiped his tongue against Michael’s bottom lip and then moved down to start sucking at the skin on his jaw as he grazed his teeth against it. Michael reached down to put both of his hands on Luke’s ass and squeezed which made Luke go even faster to the point where the bed was hitting the wall hard behind them and Luke kept letting out these beautiful moaning sounds that were making Michael feel like his orgasm was getting closer and closer.

Luke took his head out of Michael’s neck and just rested their foreheads against each other as he was heavy breathing and closing his eyes but Michael couldn’t tear his eyes away and forced them to stay open even though Luke was making him feel so good. Luke turned just a little bit and suddenly he was hitting Michael in a spot that was making his whole body shake and he clenched his eyes shut as he dug his nails into the skin on Luke’s ass.

“Do I feel good?” Luke’s husky voice was coming into play and it also had a cocky sound to it that had Michael moaning and pressing his head back into the pillow.

“So fucking good...fuck, Luke” Luke just kept hitting that spot over and over making Michael bite at his lip so hard that it began to bleed. Luke quickly bent down to kiss him and began sucking on his bottom lip as he kept up with his fast pace.

“I’m close” Michael whispered and then he was moving his hands to roam all over Luke’s back and then they settled in his hair as he pulled on it. Luke pressed their foreheads together again but this time he had his eyes wide open as he looked at every inch of Michael’s face.

“God, you’re fucking gorgeous” Michael started breathing even heavier than before and was grinding down on Luke.

“Fuck…Luke” and then he felt that familiar feeling begin to pool in his lower stomach and Luke reached down to pump at his dick and help him through his orgasm. Luke was hitting his seconds after with how beautiful Michael looked and the sounds he was making. Luke collapsed on him and their heavy breathing was filling the room as they both came down from their highs. Michael fell asleep to the feeling of Luke pressing lazy kisses all over his face but Luke had a hard time keeping his eyes open after he could hear the soothing sound of Michael’s breathing.


	9. Day 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been too long since an update but my charger for my laptop broke so I had to wait for my new one to ship in but its here now. Plus I know this chapter is very short but I just wanted to give you guys something. I promise they'll be a much longer chapter tomorrow or the next day. I just need a little time to recuperate. Thank you guys so much for sticking by this and keep the comments coming! I love you guys <3 My tumblr: Clifford-affliction

Michael felt a smile instantly spread across his face when he woke up to the feeling of Luke’s chest pressed against his back and his arm slung over his waist. He could feel Luke’s soft breathing against his hair and he gently turned around to face him without waking him up. He had never seen Luke sleeping like this and he couldn’t tear his eyes away. Michael slowly started to run his fingers down Luke’s face as his breathing quickened a little and he couldn’t help but lean forward and press a kiss to his cheek and then the side of his mouth. He let his hand fall down to Luke’s side and just brushed it up and down while he looked at Luke.

“Morning” Luke mumbled as he yawned.

“Morning, Luke” Luke scooted forward and pressed his body against Michael’s as he pressed his face into the other boys neck and Michael had to hold back a whimper. Luke was so adorable. He started rubbing his hands through Luke’s hair and pressing kisses to it and he felt Luke let out a content sigh. He wished they could just lay in bed like this all day. Suddenly he felt Luke’s hand going down to his ass and he let out a small chuckle.

“Are you sore?” Luke said softly as he was rubbing at one of Michael’s cheeks in a massaging manor. Michael had to bite his lip to not let out a moan.

“A little” Michael admitted “But last night was….it was incredible” Luke hummed and started putting kisses on Michael’s chest.

“You’re incredible” Luke’s voice came out rough sounding from just waking up but it sounded so sexy. Michael got lower on the bed and softly grabbed the back of Luke’s head before bringing their lips together and Luke was letting him lead for a little while but then his dominating side got the best of him and he was taking over and putting his tongue in Michael’s mouth. Michael loved it so much when Luke was like this though. He loved Luke so much.

Michael’s phone went off and Luke instantly whined.

“Don’t answer it” he said as he started to kiss Michael’s neck. Michael decided to listen and slightly rut up against Luke, earning a small moan from the other boy. When the phone went off again Michael let out a laugh at how loud Luke whined again.

“I’ll just answer it then we’ll stop getting interrupted” Michael said leaning over to get his phone. He noticed that he had 5 missed calls from Derek and that must have been what woke him up in the first place. He let out a sigh and kissed Luke’s forehead before talking.

“Yeah?”

“I need my car bro” Derek said instantly.

“Yeah…Yeah I’ll bring it over” Luke was now facing him and rubbing a hand down his thigh. Michael hung up the phone soon after and laid back on the pillow.

“Derek wants his car back so I gotta go bring it over to him” Luke just nodded and looked down at the bed.

“Then I’ll come pick you up…” Luke drifted off. Michael could tell he was still tired.

“Yeah but if you wanna get some more sleep first you can…” Michael looked down at his phone “It’s still pretty early” Luke brought the covers up more and snuggled into his pillow like he was actually planning to and Michael smiled wide at how cute he looked with his messy bed hair and sleepy eyes.

“What?” Luke laughed a little when he seen the fondness on Michael’s face.

“Nothing” Michael shook his head and ran his fingers though Luke’s hair “You just look so cute”

“Am not” Luke said like a child and it only made the statement even more true “I look like shit” Luke opened his mouth wide as he dragged the skin under his eyes downward and Michael let out a giggle.

“Shut up. You’re cute”

“What about now?” Luke stuck his tongue out of mouth as he made one of his eyes really wide and the other one drooping down.

“Yep. Still cute as ever”

“Now?” Luke grabbed his lip so that only his bottom row of teeth were showing and he crossed his eyes.

“The cutest in the whole wide world”

“You’re a liar Michael Clifford” Luke said rolling his eyes and Michael let out another laugh as he leaned forward and starting pecking kisses all over his face.

“No I’m not” Michael practically whispered against his cheek “You’re fucking beautiful” _and I love you so much_ echoed through Michael’s head but he didn’t let himself say it. He was scared but he hoped Luke knew how much he loved him. Luke let out a breath and cuddled into Michael even more. He didn’t want to leave even though he knew he would be right back. This moment was just too perfect with Luke his fingers down his bare back and kissing everywhere on his face except his lips. Michael was okay with that though. He just loved the feeling of Luke’s lips on his skin.

When Michael finally forced himself to get out bed he already missed Luke as he was driving Derek’s car over to his place. Luckily Derek only lived a few miles away and hopefully he could hurry up and be back with Luke. He knew it wouldn’t go that way though because Derek was a talker and would probably just want to complain to him how bad his hangover was.

“Derek!” Michael shouted loudly as he entered the house and then he seen Derek coming down the steps as he held his head.

“Shhh! Don’t be so fucking loud” he was only in his boxers and basically looked like he just crawled out of hell.

“Okay well here” Michael threw his keys at him.

“Come sit” Derek started walking into the kitchen and then he was opening the sliding glass door.

“Why are we sitting?” Michael followed him outside anyways and sat at the patio with him.

“Cause I wanna talk to my best friend. Is that okay Chief?”

“What…” Michael scrunched his face up “Why are you calling me Chief?” Derek just shrugged and waved it off.

“So…did you and Luke have fun last night?” there was a bit of a smirk on his face and Michael thought there was no way he knew what they did last night.

“Yeah” Michael casually shrugged “I mean we just went home”

“Yeah and fucked” Derek mumbled and it had Michael glaring at him.

“Shut up” he looked away into the yard and avoided Derek’s still smirking face.

“Well I’m right aren’t I? Actually….” Derek leaned forward and suddenly he was touching Michael’s neck “I know I’m right. Some of these make me wonder if you were fucked by a vampire. God damn”

“Don’t exaggerate” Michael started to feel the marks on his neck. Some of them could have even been from this morning.

“I’m not” Derek laughed and lit up a cigarette “The kid is good with his mouth” Michael felt himself blushing because he did have to agree with that. Luke was amazing with his mouth.

“So are we just going to talk about my sex life or what?”

“Relax” Derek put a hand up “I can just tell you really like this kid and I’m wondering if I need to have ‘The talk’ with him or not”

“You don’t” Michael shot out quickly “Luke wouldn’t ever hurt me. I know he wouldn’t”

“Really? Hmm cause that’s exactly what you said about Max too and look what happened”

“Luke…” Michael gritted his teeth at Derek’s words. For him to assume that Luke is even anything like Max made his skin crawl with anger “Luke isn’t anything like Max…They are two completely different people”

“Well I hope not”

“Besides….” Michael looked down at his lap “I wasn’t in love with Max…not even close” That had Derek taking a double look at him and then just trying to figure out the expression on his face.

“Wait…you’re in love with Luke?” Michael nodded without looking up.

“I thought that would have been pretty obvious” Michael slightly smiled. Derek had to of noticed all the loving stares he gives Luke and the way he always feels the need to be close to him.

“Yeah...I guess it was” Derek smiled “How did your guys’ first encounter go?”

“Well…the first time we actually made eye contact was when he was walking through the locker room completely naked and he caught me checking him out” and Derek died laughing at that. Michael knew he would.

“Jesus. Well that’s a nice story to tell the grand kids someday” it was such a simple thing to say and Michael knew Derek was kidding but the thought of growing old with Luke and having a family with him left him feeling all warm inside. “So have you told him you love him?”

“Um…no” Michael shook his head and suddenly he was feeling weak

“Well you should, Mike”

“It’s not that easy. I mean what if he doesn’t say it back or I just say it too soon and I ruin things between us. I can’t lose him. I mean that school would be absolute hell without him….my life would be absolute hell without him. It’s just that every since I first seen him there was something I loved about him” Derek was about to say something back but he looked up to see Luke walking through the house. The door was opening and Michael whipped his head backwards.

“Hey” Luke shyly smiled at him then he was looking up at Derek “Sorry the umm….the door was unlocked and nobody was answering it so I came in”

“Don’t worry about it man” Derek said easily

“Well we better get going” Michael stood up. He was selfish and just wanted Luke all to himself...he’d admit it. They were walking towards the backdoor and Luke opened it and let Michael go ahead of him with a smile on his face. Michael rolled his eyes a little but he loved it and Luke knew he did. Once Michael was inside Derek saw his chance.

“Oh…Luke?” Luke instantly turned to face Derek “Take care of him okay?” he said it softly but Luke took it as an order and it was something he didn’t need to be told but he still liked that Derek was looking out for him.

“I will” Luke said sternly then he glanced at Michael and felt himself smiling but let it fade and looked back at Derek “I promise”


	10. Day 20 (Christmas Eve)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised here is another chapter! this chapter is close to 5k so I hope it makes up for yesterdays short chapter and I hope you guys love it. There's lots of feelings and some smut too <3 let me know how you like it! My tumblr: Clifford-affliction

“Well how about this one?” Luke did a show of spinning around in a circle and was clearly checking himself out in all the mirrors

“Oh I dare you” Michael laughed out but tried to keep serious “I fucking dare you to wear that one. My dad would probably have a stroke if you showed up in that” As of that morning Michael’s mom informed them that they would have to attend one of Michael’s fathers business dinners that was always on Christmas Eve. Michael had honestly forgotten about it and was hoping him and Luke could get out of it but his mom was dead set on them coming.

Now they were at the suit store picking out something nice to wear and Michael was dreading seeing himself in a tux. Luke on the other hand looked fucking great in every one of them. Even if the one he was wearing at the moment looked like he was one of the guys from Dumb and Dumber.

“I like it” Luke was using that fake tone of voice and he spun around to look at his backside in the mirror “And it makes my ass look great”

“Your ass always looks great” Michael said without hesitating but he felt himself blush when Luke raised an eyebrow at him.

“I knew you were an ass man Clifford” Luke's cocky grin faded and he just laughed loudly “I mean the first time we met you were checking out my ass”

“It was a little hard not to” Michael shyly said as he looked down at his feet. Luke came over and ruffled Michael’s hair before grabbing the other suit and disappearing into the changing room. He heard a few banging noises that sounded like Luke was dropping things and then Luke started to hum. Michael slouched down on the bench that was leaning against one of the mirrors and closed his eyes a little. He was still a little worn out from the night before.

“So this dinner….” Luke shouted from behind the changing room door as Michael seen him throwing his other suit over the top of the door “Do you go every year?”

“Unfortunately” Michael grumbled “It’s just a bunch of my dad’s co-workers and their snotty kids”

“Oh this will be fun” Michael just knew that Luke had some evil grin on his face.

“I can assure you that it won’t be”

“Well….” Luke opened the door and Michael’s eyes went wide as his mouth dropped open. Luke was fixing his tie a bit in the jet black suit and then walking over to the nearest mirror to fix at his hair and smooth down the clothing “You’ve never been there with me” Luke smiled wide at Michael in the mirror showing his dimples but Michael still had that shocked look on his face. Luke looked incredible and he was having a hard time not getting on his knees in front of Luke and sucking him off until he was passing out from lack of air. “So do you like it?” Luke turned around and was now stretching his arms out but Michael still found it hard to speak.

“You look umm….” Michael swallowed hard and had to look at the floor “You look so fucking good…you look amazing Luke” he made himself look at Luke in the eye “Seriously” Luke had a happy smile on his face as he looked around the room quickly and started walking towards Michael. Luke started putting soft kisses on Michael’s cheeks as he held onto his waist then he hummed a little before facing him.

“Alright now get your ass in that changing room and go try on yours” Michael bit his lip and smiled as he did as he was told. He loved when Luke would thank him with touches and kisses instead of words. Michael threw Luke’s clothes over the door when he got in the changing room and quickly got into the suit. He was scared that it wouldn’t fit him good but as he slipped it on he realized it fit him perfectly. He adjusted it a little in the mirror and tried putting on the tie even though he knew he didn’t know how. He let out a groan a little and instantly heard Luke chuckle from the other side of the door. “What’s the matter?”

“I can’t put on the tie”

“Just come out here. I wanna see you” Michael looked at himself a few more times. He knew there was no way he would look at good as Luke did but he hoped he didn’t look downright awful. He hadn’t even worn a tux before so he wasn’t sure. Luke now had his regular clothes on with the tux laying on the bench next to him.

Michael felt his face heating up as he watched Luke’s eyes roam over his body several times before he stood up and began walking towards him.

“I can assure you that before this night is over I will be ripping all these clothes off of you” Luke said it with a smirk and Michael felt his stomach flipping at those sharp words. They came out almost sounding like a threat but Luke’s voice was also laced with pure lust and Michael let out a small moan. Michael was so in love and he opened his mouth almost thinking about saying it but then Luke was reaching forward and fixing the tie around his neck and quickly finishing the job as he leaned forward and gave Michael’s neck a few kisses.

“How’d you learn how to do that?” Michael gestured down to his tie and Luke shrugged.

“My father I suppose” and Michael tried not to seem too surprised at the mention of Luke’s father.

“That’s uh…that’s the first time you ever mentioned him”

“Yeah…” Luke seemed to somewhere else as he reached up and brushed the hair out of Michael’s face “Well don’t expect it to happen again” he slightly laughed but Michael could tell it was a touchy subject so he dropped it. Instead he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Luke’s. He hated when Luke was upset.

“So…Chinese?” Luke laughed at Michael’s cheery tone but nodded.

*

  
“Stop fidgeting so much” Luke whispered into Michael’s ear as he slightly rubbed a hand up and down his thigh. Michael let out a breath and started loosening his tie a little but then Luke was slapping his hand away “And stop messing with your tie or I’ll have to redo it”

“Jesus Christ…You’re acting like my mother”

“Listen to Luke, Michael” his mother said from the driver’s seat. They were meeting his dad at the party even though Michael was sure he would barely see him but he was perfectly okay with that. “We don’t want your suit all wrinkled by the time we get there”

“Thank you Karen” Luke used that fake proper tone that Michael learned to love but he wasn’t too fond of it at the moment.

“Karen?” Michael mouthed to Luke and the other boy just shrugged with a smile and looked out the window. Luke kept his hand on Michael’s thigh for the remainder of the ride and Michael couldn’t help but lace their fingers together and get goose bumps when Luke started rubbing soothing circles on his hand. Sometimes it still surprised him how Luke’s smallest actions had him practically melting at how gentle he was. Michael always felt so safe.

When they arrived they pulled into a long driveway with pine trees lining each side of it and Michael jumped a little at the sound of the gate closing behind them. The English styled house had 3 stories with a balcony going all the way across it and Michael spotted a few old men smoking cigars on it.

Luke seemed totally unimpressed by it all as he was fixing his own tie and then moving on to fluff up his hair a little. Michael smiled at how much Luke always cared about how he looked. They both now had their original hair colors back after Karen informed them that they would have to lose the blue hair before attending the diner. Michael had to admit that he missed Luke’s pretty blond hair quite a bit.

“Turn towards me” Luke was suddenly saying and Michael watched Luke’s straight face the whole time he was fixing his tie for him “There” he said in a slightly high pitched voice and then the car was coming to a stop and Luke was opening the door. They both walked shoulder to shoulder up to the door and then Luke was stopped Michael on the front step as Karen was already stepping into the house “You okay?” Luke could always tell when Michael was off. Michael just felt nervous any time he had to be in a social environment; especially one that involved so many people he didn’t know.

“Y-yeah…I think so”

“You look so good, baby” Luke said softly before pressing a kiss to Michael’s cheeks and Michael had to close his eyes for a few seconds. He couldn’t believe how fast all his anxieties went away just because of what Luke did. He was convinced that Luke could make him feel better in any situation. Luke was then pressing a hand on his lower back and leading to the front door and the bright lights from inside were almost painful as they stepped inside. There was a huge chandelier hanging above them and Michael let his eyes look over the rest of the entrance way. There were curvy stairs on each side of the wall and straight ahead he could tell it was the dining room and living room area where everybody else was . Suddenly Luke was taking a few deep breaths and clearing his throat and Michael narrowed his eyes at him.

“Luke…what’re you doing?’

“Preparing myself” he was now walking forward a few steps and Michael followed

“Um for what?”

“Gotta temporarily switch characters” he started fluffing up his hair a little more “So I have to get in the zone”

“Are you serious?” Michael laughed a little. He loved when Luke would do different characters but Luke did tend to take it too far sometimes.

“Absolutely. Shall we join them Michael?” He was already doing it and Michael felt himself smiling. It had actually been a while since Luke had done this.

“We shall” Michael nodded and Luke bit his lip as he smiled.

“Good boy” Luke said in a low voice as he lightly slapped Michael’s ass and Michael tried to ignore the shiver that went up his spine at the words alone. They were then walking into the next room where there really weren’t as many people as he imagined but there were still a fair amount. Luke by now had let his hand fall from Michael’s back and Michael felt the nervousness creeping back a little without his touch.

“Michael. Hello” a deep familiar voice came up next to him. It was one of his fathers’ closest friends and Michael reached out to shake his hand.

“Mr. O’Boyle” Michael tired to sound proper like Luke always did “Oh this is-“

“Luke Hemmings” Luke reached out a hand to him “Nice to meet you sir”

“Same to you” the older man hummed a bit then glanced around the room a bit “I’ve heard you have been recently enrolled at Lincoln Prep…”

“That’s correct” Michael swallowed a bit. He didn’t exactly want to think about school any sooner than he had to or talk about it.

“That’s a fine school” Mr. O’Boyle continued and Michael just nodded and hoped that Luke would save him from this. He was never good with keeping a conversation going on with his dads friends.

“That it is” Michael let out a breath as he heard Luke speak next to him “I have to say I was quite surprised at how quickly Michael adapted to the schools atmosphere. There was even talk that he could be the new president of the honors society”

“The honors society” Mr. O’Boyle grinned wide a she looked back at Michael “That’s very impressive, Michael”

“Yeah….” Michael tired to push the nervousness away and sound confident like Luke but he knew he wouldn’t be able to “I’m excited too”

“Sending you to that school was a smart decision on your fathers end”

“I agree” Luke said quickly but Michael knew he was agreeing for a completely different reason. He felt Luke’s fingers gently brush his lower back and then he kept his hand there and it really comforted Michael probably more than Luke knew.

“Well dinner is starting soon…” the older man said as he turned around for a second “You two boys should sit across from me” he smiled at them both and then was leaving before they could respond. Michael felt like he could breathe once he was gone and Luke let out a small laugh.

“Relax. It’s just a simple dinner okay?” Luke said softly as he stepped in front of Michael and rubbed at his shoulders.

“I am pretty hungry” he mumbled and he felt like a child right now with how nervous he was.

“See…there you go. I bet they have a bunch of good food” Luke started to pull Michael along a little “Come along” he said in some British accent and it had Michael cracking up and having to cover his mouth with his hand. He looked up to see nothing but fond all over Luke’s face and it made his stomach flutter.

*

There was already a handful of people sitting at the long glass table when they entered the dining room and Michael could see his dad sitting at the far end of it as he seemed to be deep in conversation. There were two empty seats right in front of them so Luke and Michael both made their way towards it.

When they were sat Michael looked over to see Luke fixing his tie again and looking straight out the big window in front of them. He seemed so proper and for the first time ever Michael started to feel a little out of place with him. Suddenly Luke was looking over at Michael and widening his eyes as he smirked and the feeling Michael had before went away completely. He sometimes forgot that all of this was just an act for Luke.

“Now these sweet potatoes are just lovely” Luke said all of a sudden after he literally had two bites of it and Michael suppressed a laugh.

“Oh do you like them?” an older lady said that was sat on the other side of them said in an excited voice.

“I love them” Luke started moving them around with his fork like he was some food critic “The texture is perfect and they have just the right amount of sweetness. Overall I would give them a 10 out of 10”

“Oh my” the older lady beamed “Well the recipe has been in my family for years”

“Oh my gosh…did you make these?” Luke was sometimes too good of an actor that for a second Michael actually thought he enjoyed talking to this 90 year old woman.

“I sure did”

“Well they are just delicious. Martha Stewart better watch her back” that had the older women cracking up so much that Michael was afraid she would fall out of her chair but somehow Luke kept in character while Michael was biting his lip and then taking a drink to hide his smile.

“Well thank you dear” They continued to have a conversation all through the first course and Michael felt a little pathetic but he was starting to feel a bit jealous. This old lady was taking all of Luke’s attention and Michael wanted at least some of it; mainly because he was feeling a tad bored just sitting there.

Michael slightly nudged Luke’s thigh and then Luke took a quick glance at him while the lady was still talking his ears off. Michael frowned when Luke focused back on the older lady but then he looked down to see Luke’s hand resting on his thigh as his thumb rubbed at the slippery fabric of his pants. Just that contact alone was making Michael feel a bit more better.

It began to worry him a little when he felt Luke moving the cloth on the table so that it was covering Michael’s waist down. Michael looked at Luke but Luke was still caught up in conversation but then he felt Luke’s hand rubbing at the inside of his thigh in more eager way and it was slowly moving towards his dick. Michael understood what Luke was doing now and he bit his lip hard, trying not to let out any sounds. He began just taking few bites of his food to distract himself but that didn’t help when Luke was now palming over his dick and Michael choked on his food a little.

“You alright?” Luke said turning to him and acting as if he wasn’t the reason for Michael choking.

“Y-yeah..great” Michael forced a smile and thought about grabbing Luke’s hand and pushing it away but for now it was only settled on his thigh and he figured that was okay. Luke nodded then went back to talking and Michael already missed his attention. He felt like such a child but Luke was his friend and this old lady was being selfish. He shook away those thoughts when he realized how stupid they sounded and was happy when Luke’s hand started to move again.

This time it went straight to his dick within seconds and Michael looked over at Luke instantly. He just didn’t understand how Luke was able to keep this innocent conversation going with the old lady while he was basically giving Michael a handjob on the other side of him. Luke’s hand sped up a bit more and Michael was biting hard into his lip as he closed his eyes. Luke was now doing some circular motion that had Michael about spilling into his boxers and he finally slid his chair back which earned a look from everyone at the table. He gulped and looked down at the table.

“May I be excused…umm to use the bathroom?” his voice had cracked several times and he hoped people didn’t think he was on the verge of crying or something.

“Of course” some old man from across the table said “Upstairs and 3 doors to the right” Michael quickly nodded and felt Luke’s eyes on him so he widened his eyes and then moved them in the direction of the hallway hoping that Luke would catch the hint. Luke did a grin and then he was turning back to the old lady.

Michael got up so fast that he almost ended up tripping but saved himself and then he was fast walking into the hallway and up the long stairs.

The quietness of the 2nd floor was already making him feel less tense and he leaned against the railing for a few seconds a she looked down at the marble floor. For some reason he was reminded of the movie Titanic with the way this house was designed and he had the sudden urge to watch it. Since Luke put him through so much down at the diner table he figured he would make him watch it with him later on that night…even though he knew damn well that Luke would make it up to him in the bathroom.

He smiled to himself and made his way down the long hallway until he got to the 3rd door. He knew he shouldn’t have been surprised but he was a little at how massive the bathroom really was. Straight ahead there was a Jacuzzi tub and there were counters lining all the walls with a huge shower that could fit 15 people. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it as he just took it all in. The soft knock at the door made him stand up straight and he prayed to god that it was Luke and not some random person.

“Is this bathroom being occupied?” Luke leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed and a smile spread across his face and Michael quickly pulled him inside “Holy shit…You could raise a fucking family in this bathroom”

“Yeah I was just standing here staring at it before you got here” Michael laughed

“So...” Luke glanced around then he was walking towards Michael and putting his lips instantly on his neck “I missed you…I hate when it’s not just you and me” Michael pressed his hands into Luke’s waist and let out a small whimper when Luke bit under his ear.

“It d-didn’t seem like you missed me” Luke was then giggling into his neck and pulling back to face Michael.

“Were you jealous of that sweet little old lady, Michael?”

“She was stealing all your attention”

“Aww you were jealous” Luke sang as he did a little dance and Michael smiled as he looked away.

“I don’t know…I’m just really selfish when it comes to you” Luke cocked his head a little in a confused manor “Like I wish I could just have you all to myself…all the time” Luke’s face straightened and Michael was a little afraid that he made things get too serious.

“I’m the same way…with you” Luke was looking down at the floor now and a slight smile came on his face “Like I’m jealous of Ashton cause he gets to have you as his roommate. I wish I was able to wake up every morning with you next to me…he doesn’t” Luke glanced out the window “He doesn’t appreciate that and I would. I know that when this break is over I won’t be able to wake up with you every morning and spend all this extra time with you so I get it…cause I’m selfish too” Michael felt his eyes burning a little from Luke’s honest words and all wanted was to be touching him.

“Come’re” Michael knew how weak he sounded but he didn’t even care. When Luke was right in front of him Michael ran a hand through his hair and trailed it down the side of his face until he was at his neck and he pressed a soft kiss to his lips before pressing his forehead to Luke’s and taking a deep breath. It was the perfect moment…the perfect moment to tell Luke how much he loved him.

“You know…I was coming in here to get you off but now you’ve got me thinking about all this sappy shit” and Luke and Michael both erupted in giggles. Michael let his head fall on Luke’s shoulder and smiled into his jacket. Michael quickly turned them around so that Luke was leaning against the counter and he started to suck marks onto his neck.

“You know what I was thinking when I seen you naked in that locker room?” Michael said in a low, eager voice as he pulled down Luke’s pants and boxers. He instantly started to pump his hand on Luke’s cock and looked up to see Luke shaking his head no to the question he asked “I was thinking that you had the most beautiful body I’ve ever seen…I just had this urge to run my hands all over you…” Luke let out a breathy moan and put his head back and Michael started biting at his neck “God you don’t know how bad I wanted you, Luke. I swear the only reason I even liked going to gym class was because you were there” he slowed down his hand movement and ran his thumb across the slit making Luke shiver and bite at his lip.

Michael locked eyes with Luke and Luke was running his eyes all over Michael’s face

“And then you started talking to me…I didn’t understand why cause you’re you and I’m me” Michael continued and he let out a chuckle “But it made me feel so special that you were choosing to talk to me and that time you saved me from the frogman..I swear I thought about that 24/7 until we talked again. Hell, I still think about it and sometimes it’s still crazy to me how much I do think about you…even when you’re right in front of me” For once Luke felt completely speechless and Michael watched him breathe heavy as he started twisting his hand in the way he knew Luke liked it. Luke pressed his lips hard into Michael's and started licking into his mouth making Michael feel just as weak and speechless.

“Fuck, Michael” Luke moaned into his mouth and started nipping down his jaw “Keep talking…please baby”

“I know that I’ve never cared about anyone like I care about you…and I know it sounds cliche and cheesy but you’re literally the first person I think about when I wake up. Before break started the only reason I would even want to get out of bed in the morning was because I wanted to see you. The first time we kissed I just couldn’t believe it was actually happening and sometimes I still can’t believe I get to be with you like this; just be around you and be able to kiss and touch you any time I want” Luke stopped kissing his neck and slowly moved his lips over Michael’s like he was trying to prove to him that all of this was real. Michael kissed him for a few more seconds and then he was slumping down to his knees and taking Luke’s entire dick in his mouth at once; making Luke grab onto the counter to hold himself up as he panted and was letting out soft moans every other second.

Luke was opening his mouth to say something but instead he felt his stomach flexing and then he was spilling down Michael’s throat as he slurred curse words under his breath. Michael was wiping his mouth a little then pulling Luke’s pants and boxers up before facing him. Michael was surprised when Luke instantly clung to him and wrapped his arms around his torso. Michael held him back just as tight and Luke started just rubbing his face against Michael’s neck.

“Michael” Luke whispered and Michael pressed a kiss to his hair when he thought he felt Luke’s eyes getting wet.

“Hmm?” he began rubbing his back.

“God I….fucking care about you so much. I wish I could just protect you from everything and make sure you never get hurt” he was talking fast and started putting quick kisses all over Michael’s neck “And I never want you to be sad….you’re way too beautiful to be sad”

“I’m never sad when I’m with you” Michael whispered into his hair “You make me so happy, Luke”

“Good” Luke sniffled a little and let out a small chuckle “Cause I’m the happiest when I’m with you”

“Fuck” Michael felt like he was close to crying too and held Luke tighter as he rubbed a hand through his hair “Let’s go home”

*

 Michael ended up being able to talk his mom into getting a ride home with his dad because he told her that Luke was feeling sick and they needed to take the car to go home. They were currently laying in Michael’s bed with Luke laid across his chest as they watched Titanic and Luke kept mouthing along to all the dialogue in the same exact tones as they were using. Michael didn’t mind it though…he just loved hearing Luke talk and feeling the vibration of his voice in his chest.

Michael quietly giggled when he noticed that Luke was now just mumbling along with the movie and sometimes he wouldn’t say them at all. He knew Luke would be falling asleep at any moment. Michael groaned a little bit when he felt the need to pee and carefully got out of Luke’s arm and looked down to see Luke just laying on his stomach and his eyes looking up at Michael like a sad puppy.

“I gotta pee” Michael laughed at Luke’s expression and then he was making his way down the hallway. When he got back he wasn’t surprised to see Luke’s eyes closed with his head off the pillow and his mouth slightly open. Michael slowly crept in beside him and just rested on his elbows as he combed his fingers through Luke’s hair and hummed a bit. Luke didn’t stir at all so Michael knew he was asleep so he bent down and pressed a few kisses to his cheek and forehead that were so soft that his lips were barely even touching him. Michael got down and laid down on his side and dug his face in Luke’s neck as he wrapped an arm around him “I love you, Luke” Michael sat back and hoped that Luke would move or show some sign of being awake. Michael wanted Luke to hear him…he really did but Luke stayed still. Michael must have stayed awake for hours just brushing his fingers up and down Luke’s back wishing that he could tell him those words for real.


	11. Day 21 (Christmas Day)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well I decided to give you guys another chapter so soon because tomorrow I'm going back to my moms to the land of no internet and I won't be able to update again until after Christmas :( but that will only be a couple of weeks so hopefully you guys will still stick with this. Hope you like this chapter! I kinda had to force it but I'm really proud of the ending so let me know how you liked it! (Lots of feelings...again and smutttttt. Oh and Luke talks about something he hasn't yet talked about) My tumblr: Clifford-affliction

After waking up to Luke singing him Christmas songs and then going downstairs to see his parents nowhere in sight Michael and Luke both decided to drive into the city for Christmas day. They were now sitting at Jack Block Park on a bench overlooking the shoreline and the city.

Michael was watching the waves as he felt Luke’s eyes on him. Luke had been doing this thing all day where he would just start looking at Michael for no reason at all. Michael loved having Luke’s eyes on him but it was just that he wasn’t able to decipher the look on his face. It was as if Luke was looking at Michael to try and figure something out. Michael did what he had done all the other times today when he caught Luke starting at him as he just smiled wide and held the stare for a few seconds before having to look away. The looks Luke were giving him were just so intense that it was almost a natural reaction for Michael to look away.

“I feel really shitty that I didn’t get you anything for Christmas, Michael. I just didn’t have a fucking clue what to get you” Luke said suddenly. It had been the first time either of them spoke in 15 minutes. Sometimes they just liked sitting there and enjoying each other’s company. “I especially feel bad since your parents didn’t get you anything”

“Don’t feel bad. I didn’t get you anything for you either for the same reason” Michael shook his head and looked down as he started to dig at some snow on the ground “But they did get me something….” Michael was aware of how sad he sounded when he said those words.

“What’d they get you?”

“A watch” Michael let out a breath and leaned back on the bench again “They get me one every year. I don’t even know why I bothered opening it”

“Well it’s better than a desk set” Luke said casually as he lit up a cigarette and Michael gave him a confused look “The Dead Poets Society” he grinned “Todd’s parents gave him the same desk set every year for his birthday”

“Yeah” Michael nodded, remembering now “And then Neil managed to once again to make him feel better” Michael looked over to see Luke giving him that look again but this time Luke quickly shook it off and looked at the water.

“Neil was a good man” Luke said after taking a drag from his cigarette so his voice came out sounding rough “I cried at the ending of that movie”

“Me too” Michael chuckled. He remembers watching it with Derek as they were both curled under blankets on the couch and Derek kept making fun of him for crying. Michael knew Derek loved him but he also knew that Luke would never laugh at him for crying.

Luke was then putting an arm around him and urging Michael to sit closer to him. Michael dug his face into Luke’s neck and rested on his shoulder as he looked up at Luke with the cigarette in his mouth. Michael knew it was a horrid habit but he just loved how at peace and in his own little world Luke looked when he smoked. Michael could tell that it really calmed him down and he couldn’t help but notice Luke had been smoking more than usual today.

“Are you okay?” Michael asked softly and Luke let out a chuckle and looked down at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know” Michael shrugged “You seem a little sad or something today”

“Nah” Luke was being too casual about this “I’m fine…just a little bummed that break is almost over I suppose” Michael could understand that Luke was sad about that because he was too but Michael had a feeling it was something deeper that was bothering him. Luke was a good actor, no doubt about it, but Michael could tell when he was lying. He decided not to push it though and leaned up to take the cigarette out of Luke’s mouth before giving him a slow kiss to the lips. Luke cupped one of Michael’s cheeks in his hand and had the other one still wrapped around him.

“You would tell me if something was wrong though right?” Michael said with a concerned voice as he put the cigarette back between Luke’s lips again. Luke inhaled it then flicked a few ashes to the ground and just nodded, not making eye contact with him. That right there worried Michael. Luke would never shy away from him like this. He just seemed so small at this moment and Michael didn’t know how to take it.

“You wanna walk?” Luke looked back up at Michael with the same look that had been confusing him all day.

“Y-yeah…we can walk” Luke gave him a smile and then he was standing up and reaching out a hand for Michael to take. It made Michael feel a whole lot better when Luke didn’t let go of his hand when they started walking and Michael leaned into him, earning a kiss from Luke on the cheek. Everyone had off days and Michael just figured Luke was having one that today. He tried not to let his anxiety filled brain talk him into thinking it was something more serious and just held on Luke’s hand tight as they walked the streets of Seattle.

*

  
“Aha!” Luke shouted as they passed a small diner on the edge of the city “I knew there would have to be something that was open today”

“I actually don’t think I’ve ever been in here” Michael said as he peered through the windows. He could make out a tree decorated with teal and silver bulbs and a short older woman behind the counter. The walls were all brick inside and the floors wooden.

“Do you wanna go in here?” Michael nodded and took his face away from the window realizing he kind of seemed like a weirdo just peering through the window. He let Luke put a hand behind his back and lead him in there. That was one of his favorite things that Luke did because it was comforting to him; having Luke press a hand to his back and walk him into a room. Michael realized he was becoming very attached to all these things that Luke did and just Luke in general. He now couldn’t imagine his life without him and he didn’t want to. In fact the thought of not having Luke anymore made him quite sick to his stomach. Michael didn’t understand why these thoughts were going through his head. It might of had something to do with the fact that he told Luke he loved him last night; even though he was quite certain that Luke didn’t hear him it was still a big thing to admit out loud and Michael started to feel a bit vulnerable “Michael….you okay?” Michael snapped out of it and realized Luke was now pulling a chair out for him at a table next to the window. He watched the cars pass by on the busy street and seen a few people walking their dogs and then made himself look back at Luke.

“Mhm” He nodded and took a seat but he could still feel Luke’s worried eyes on him. Michael realized that they were both acting a little strange today and he felt bad that he was like this when Luke also had something going on with him. Michael looked up to see the waitress coming their way and she looked ot him first.

“I’ll just have a hot chocolate”

“Hmmm….” Luke was looking down at the menu and taking his own sweet time and Michael smiled a bit “I will have the peppermint hot chocolate”

“Mmm” Michael hummed to himself as he looked out the window.

“Can I ask you something?” Luke’s curious tone had Michael looking at him again

“Yeah, anything” Michael said quickly.

“What was your first impression of me?” Michael for some reason felt his face heating up and his cheeks began to hurt from smiling so wide at Luke’s question.

“First impression…” Michael drifted off as he glanced around the diner trying to find the right words “I think bold would have been an accurate word. I mean you came into gym class late and you were kind of talking back to the teacher. I was a bit impressed because it was my first day and I really hadn’t seen anyone do that”

“So you were intrigued?” Luke smirked.

“Very intrigued” Michael smiled back “You’re just so unlike everyone else that goes to that school and…I don’t know…it’s comforting” Michael briefly looked out the window to watch the snow begin to fall and he knew he would always get that warm feeling whenever it snowed now because it reminded him so much of Luke “I remember feeling like I wasn’t ever going to make any friends at that school…then you came around” Luke had one of those fond smiles on his face as he looked down at the table then it turned into a slightly more sinister one.

“Let’s imagine if you wouldn’t have became friends with me” Michael instantly made a puppy dog face at his words. He didn’t even want to think about not being friends with Luke “Just humor me” Luke reached out and held his hand for a second and then the waitress was coming back with their drinks. They both didn’t feel like eating so Luke took a few sips of his then continued “I feel like you would have became pretty good friends with Calum and eventually…Ashton”

“I don’t think I ever would have become friends with Ashton” Michael said with a disgusted face. Ashton was just too snotty for him.

“No” Luke laughed a little “He would have grown on you eventually. Trust me” Michael took a double look at Luke and remembered that he used to be good friends with Ashton. He wanted so badly to ask why Luke threw him under the bus like he did but he knew that conversation would end badly and he didn’t want to ruin the calm setting they were in right now. Maybe Luke would tell him someday.

“Maybe” Michael mumbled; although him and Ashton had gotten along pretty well before Luke came into the picture “I guess we were kind of friends when I first got there…before he-“ Michael abruptly stopped and closed his eyes as he had his head down. He didn’t want to get into that conversation because he knew it would make Luke upset but it surprised him what Luke said next.

“Before he found out you were friends with me” Luke said in a quiet voice, almost as if he was just saying it to himself. He was focused on something outside on the street.

“Yeah…” Michael mumbled. He was already feeling uncomfortable with where this was going because Luke had never uttered a single word about it before this and he knew it was a very touchy subject.

“I’m sure you know what I did to him” Luke was stirring at his hot chocolate and looking down right miserable. Michael hated it.

“Yeah..yeah but we don’t have to talk about it” Michael said softly, wanting to reach out and comfort the other boy.

“I was young….that’s no excuse but I was just scared of getting in trouble. I can’t even see him without feeling completely shitty about it” Luke was resting both his elbows on the table now and rubbing the back of his neck. Michael hoped that Luke was telling him all this because he wanted to get it off his chest and not just because he thought Michael deserved to hear it. Michael didn’t even need to hear it if Luke didn’t want him too. He just hated seeing Luke in uncomfortable situations.

“Did you try saying you’re sorry?”

“It’s no use. He wanted to be on the honors society more than anything and when he got in trouble, because of me, they told him he could never be on it; no matter how good of grades he got. He was absolutely crushed and I feel like he won’t ever forgive me for that” Michael felt like nothing he could say could fix this and he hated that feeling. He started to realize that Luke was a lot closer with Ashton than he originally thought.

“How..how close were you guys?”

“Close…” then Luke laughed and Michael was relieved “Well not ‘you and me’ close but we became friends in grammar school”

“Do you miss him?”

“He’s not the same person anymore…so no. I feel like I’m partially responsible for him being the way he is now though” Luke shook his head and Michael could just tell he was remembering how Ashton used to be “God, he used to be so trusting of people…almost too trusting but I just stepped on all of that”

“We all make mistakes, Luke” Michael was still using his soft voice and felt like crying at how tore up Luke was about this “But you’ve made up for your mistake with how you are with me” Luke finally looked up and Michael could see his slightly red eyes “I mean, fuck, you treat me better than anyone ever has and I just can’t thank you enough for that” Luke looked back down at his lap and started biting at his lip.

“You know I’d never hurt you right?” Luke brought his head up again and was watching Michael nod.

“I trust you, Luke” Michael took a few sips of his hot chocolate and he could still feel Luke’s eyes on him “I trust you more than anyone and I need you to know that I don’t look down on you or think less of you because of what you did to Ashton”

“Jesus” Luke shook his head in disbelief “You’re too good for me, you know that?” there was a slight smile on his face but he was being completely serious; although Michael didn’t agree at all. He’s always felt like Luke was way out of his league.

“Bullshit” Michael said dragging it out “You’re so out of my league it’s insane” and Luke scoffed loudly.

“Shit, Michael. I wished you’d see it”

“See what?”

“See how fucking perfect you are” Luke was still shaking his head in disbelief as he looked out the window and Michael couldn’t stand not being able to touch him. Michael started nervously rubbing his hands together on his lap and then just decided to go for it. He leaned across the table and pressed a quick kiss to Luke’s lips. What he didn’t expect was for Luke to get so into it. Luke grabbed the back of his neck and started kissing him fiercely and Michael did not want to get a hard on in public but with the rate that this was going it was bound to happen soon.

“Let’s get out of here” Michael begged and Luke got chills at feeling Michael’s breath against his lips.

“You just read my mind, Clifford”

*

  
When they got home they only made it to the couch before Michael had Luke pinned down to the couch with his lips touching every inch of his skin. Suddenly Michael was sitting up so that he was just straddling him while Luke’s hand were still rubbing up his thighs.

“You know what I want to do?”

“Hmm?”

“I wanna take a bubble bath” that had Luke giggling and Michael started pouting “Come on…take a bubble bath with me”

“I really like this begging thing you’ve got going on” Luke smirked and Michael rolled his eyes.

“Shut up” he stood up and started pulling at Luke’s arm “Come on”

“Not until you beg me”

“Luke…” Michael whined.

“Alright” Luke stood up and began walking towards the kitchen “I gotta get a drink though. I’ll be up there in a sec”

  
*  
Michael was lying comfortable in the bathtub with bubbles all over him and he was about falling asleep when the door swung open.

“You falling asleep on me?” Luke teased and Michael nodded a little.

“Get in here” he mumbled taking his hand out of the water.

“Oooo. Bossy are we?” Luke instead just sat on the edge of the tub and then dipped his hand in the water to get a handful of bubbles. Michael started giggling when Luke put some on his chin and started humming “Santa Baby” “You look hot as fuck, honestly”

“Luke Hemmings” Michael said in a fake “ashamed of you” voice “Do you have some Santa kink that I’m unaware of?”

“Maybe” Luke smirked and pet a hand through Michael’s hair “And I’ve been pretty naughty this year”

“Stop” Michael whined “Just get in here already”

“I like teasing you” Michael rolled his eyes once again and quickly went under to get his hair wet.

“Get the lube since you’re refusing to get in here with me”

“Getting right to the point huh?” Luke said chuckling and leaning down to give Michael a kiss.

“Please” Michael was way past being too stubborn to beg. He’d beg Luke for hours if he had to “I miss you fucking me” those words had Luke closing his eyes for a few seconds like he was trying to keep it together but then he was leaning forward again and this time kissing Michael more fiercely.

“I’ll be right back” Luke whispered before darting out of the bathroom towards the bedroom. Michael waited unpatiently as he kept bumping his leg up and down under the water.

It was a fairly large bath and he knew Luke would have plenty of room in there with him but he hoped Luke would immediately invade his space because he just needed to touch him. Luke arrived about 2 minutes later with the bottle in his hand and he quickly discarded all of his clothes. Michael watched him the whole time and he knew how much Luke loved being watched. Michael trailed his eyes down Luke’s pale torso and then to his already hard dick and Michael licked his lips like it was a reflex. He heard Luke chuckle, obviously seeing the act, and then he was watching him get in and sit across from him

“Come’re” and Michael decided that since Luke was so keen on teasing him tonight that he would do the same back to him.

“Is that an order?”

“Yeah it is” Luke said sternly and Michel felt his dick twitch a little. He decided that he wasn’t strong enough to tease Luke and he quickly sat up and straddled the other boy. Michael wet his hands and picked up some bubbles to put in Luke’s hair. Luke let out a small laugh and put his hands on Michael’s sides as he started trailing kisses all over his torso.

Without warning Luke was raising his head up and bringing Michael’s lips towards his own with his hand under his jaw. Michael moaned at how aggressive Luke was being and grinding up against him.

“Fuck I love it when you’re all desperate for me” Luke practically moaned out and Michael just hummed before putting one hand under the water and wrapping it around both of their dicks to get a steady rhythm going.

He let his head fall onto Luke’s shoulder as he moved his hand and felt Luke’s hands gripping his thigh hard as he put kisses on his shoulder. Michael felt Luke tense up and moan into his skin when he picked up the pace of his hand and started grinding harder against him

“Fuck fuck fuck…we-we gotta stop. I’m gonna come” Luke said quickly and Michael had to agree with him. He was very close himself and the thought of Luke coming inside of him was much more appealing. Luke picked up the lube from the floor and had Michael sit up out of the water a bit so he could put one finger in him. Soon Michael was riding three of Luke’s fingers as he became a panting mess and kept Luke’s name into his neck.

“Fuck, I’m ready. P-please” Michael whimpered and Luke pushed his fingers in a few more times before slowly taking them out and Michael let out a breath. Luke instantly brought him in a kiss and then lining his dick up with Michael’s hole.

“You ready to ride me baby?” Luke said in that low voice of his as he put kisses down Michael’s jaw. All Michael could do was moan and frantically nod. He felt the head of Luke’s dick touching his entrance and took it upon himself to start lowering himself onto it. He slowly worked his way to down and then felt Luke bite against his skin on this chest as he bottomed out. As Michael tried to relax he felt Luke’s hands going up and down his back in a soothing manor. It gave Michael the strength to start slowly sitting up and then easing his way back down again, earning a breathy moan from Luke. Michael started going up and down on Luke’s dick at a slow pace at first but then he began to lose control and was causing the water to make waves in the bathtub as his and Luke’s moans filled the bathroom.

“Fuck!” Luke put his head back for a second then he was pulling Michael close to him again with his arms wrapped around him as sucked at his neck “Fuck, just like that” Michael slowed down a bit just to catch his breath again and then Luke was bucking his hips up to meet him halfway. Michael held onto Luke’s shoulders tight as Luke started going even faster and slightly changing his position to be hitting Michael in exactly the right spot to cause him to start breathing heavy again and let out whimpering moans.

“It feels so fucking good” Michael whispered into Luke’s neck mainly because he didn’t have the strength to talk any louder. Luke barely even rubbed against his dick and it had Michael hitting his orgasm, just about screaming at how loud he moaned. Luke rubbed Michael’s back to ride it out and a minute later Michael could feel Luke filling him up and he pecked kisses all over his face and neck. Luke suddenly let out a laugh as Michael fell against him.

“Best….” Luke was still trying to catch his breath “Christmas ever”

“It is” Michael nodded and kissed his cheek.

“You’re a really good Santa” and the disgusted groaning sound that Michael made had Luke cracking up with his hands covering his face as he leaned his head back against the wall.

“You are fucking unbelievable” Michael said as he started to laugh along with Luke.

“Yeah….” Luke wiped at his eyes and his serious face came into play as he scanned his eyes all over Michael’s body and then settled on his face “So are you”


	12. Day 30 (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm back earlier than expected! this is the 2nd to last chapter (I'm sowwy) and I will upload the last chapter tomorrow if you guys really want me to. Let me know what you think of this! (it is quite intense not going to lie. plus its like 8k whoops) Follow me on tumblr if you want: Clifford-affliction

“Napoleon doesn’t want us to leave either” Luke mumbled as the dog was lying entirely on top of him while he ran his fingers through his fur. Michael was sitting against the headboard while Luke was lying on his back.

They both knew they had to go back to school today but they were dreading it more than anything. Michael would have to go back to waking up with Ashton instead of Luke and that thought made him sick to his stomach. He had been so used to falling asleep and waking up next to Luke that he wasn’t sure how he would handle it when he had to go back to his regular routine. He knew from now on he would have trouble sleeping. Not to mention that Derek sounded like he was legit crying when he had spoken to him on the phone earlier. Derek didn’t want either of them to leave.

“I really don’t want to go back” When Luke spoke there was a hint of humor behind his words but Michael sounded downright miserable and Luke carefully made the dog jump off the bed before sitting up and bringing Michael to his chest. Michael held his eyes shut tight as he clung onto Luke like his life depended on it.

“Hey” Luke rubbed his arm and Michael looked up at him “In a couple of months it will be summer and then we’ll have 3 months together but you know…we still get to see each other when school is in. Not as much but I promise I’ll stop skipping gym since that’s the only class we have together”

“Maybe I’ll just skip with you instead” Michael smiled and Luke leaned down to give him a kiss on the forehead.

“That’s my boy” Luke giggled as he leaned his head against Michael’s

“Yeah…” Michael felt his cheeks getting hotter “I am”

*

Luke and Michael were now both loading their bags into the trunk after Karen had to yell up to them four times to come downstairs. It was snowing again and Michael caught Luke looking up at the sky as he went to open the car door. Michael got lost in him again as he looked at every inch of his face and put his eyes down to look at his hands in his black coat. Luke caught him staring and smiled wide before stepping in the car.

“Oh Michael” Karen said quickly as he was closing the front door behind her “Can I talk to you a second?”

“Umm…yeah” he walked away from the car where Luke still was and he was almost positive Luke was watching him. Karen stood on the step and Michael didn’t understand why she didn’t want to get any closer. It was like whatever she wanted to say she didn’t want to reach Luke’s ears.

“Listen honey” Michael didn’t like where this was going “Me and your father have been talking and…well it’s just that you’ve been doing so well at that school and I also feel like sending you there was a bit drastic so…” Michael held his breath “We are totally okay with you going back to your old school for senior year next year…it’s only fair that you be with your friends when you graduate”

“You mean….” This was what Michael was hoping for that first day he was sitting in Monticello’s office. It’s all he had to hold onto but yet he found himself glancing back at Luke....his Luke. “You’re letting me go back to public schools?” Michael said as he faced Karen again.

“Yes…we think it would be the best thing-“

“I can’t do that” Michael spit out and his moms smile had faded.

“Well isn’t that what you wanted? I can’t imagine that you actually like going to that prep school”

“I’m staying…I’m staying there for senior year. I can’t leave-“Michael stopped and then just glanced back at Luke again who was leaning his head against the window. Karen’s mom looked between the two boys for a few seconds then smiled.

“Well I guess that’s settled then” Michael nodded quickly and then was walking back to the car. He felt Luke’s curious gaze on him and just reached over and patted his thigh before buckling his seatbelt and then Luke was doing the same. Michael knew he had made the right choice; sure when he first got there he couldn’t wait to get out of there but that was before he met Luke, before he fell in love with Luke. Now Michael couldn’t picture his life without the blond boy. Luke is the kind of person someone waits their whole life to meet and Michael wasn’t going to let that be taken away from him.

As they got further and further away from town Michael could see Luke’s frown deepen with each passing mile. Michael couldn’t help but reach out and put a hand on Luke’s knee as he gently rubbed his thumb against it. Luke right away stopped looking out the window and focused on Michael instead and he wanted so badly to sit closer to him and rest his head on Michael’s shoulder.

Neither of them knew how much physical contact they would have with each other when they got back to school but they knew it wouldn’t be even close to enough. Luke let out a breath as he looked out the window again and rested his hand on top of Michael’s. Sadly the ride went by very quickly and soon they were pulling onto the school grounds. Michael squeezed Luke’s hand and Luke squeezed back before they were forced to let go.

“Well honey…I guess I’ll see you in June” Karen said as she rolled down her window as the boys were standing on the sidewalk with their bags.

“Yeah…See ya” Michael knew how depressed he sounded but he couldn’t help it.

“And it was very nice meeting you, Luke”

“Yeah you too” Luke tried his best to smile back at her and then they were walking towards their dorms. They quad seemed pretty desolate and they knew it was because they were arriving later than everyone else. They walked in silence until they had to go separate ways and they just stood there looking down at the ground. “Meet me in my room after you unpack” Michael nodded at Luke’s words then was going to his door. He stood at it and watched Luke walk towards his building then he was up to his door where he seen a taller boy opening it and ruffling Luke’s hair before pulling him inside. Michael smiled and sort of wished he had friends in his own dorm building.

Instead he walked in to have no one greeting him and climbed the stairs. A few familiar kids waved at him and Michael did his best to wave back. It seemed exactly the same as when he left for break and Michael didn’t know why he expected anything different. When he opened the door Ashton was laying on his bed with Calum at the end of it on his laptop. They both looked up when Michael sat his bag down on the floor and Calum smiled.

“Hey buddy” Calum chirped “How was your break?”

“Amazing” Michael said right away but then he bit his lip “I mean it was just really good. It was nice to not have to worry about school work”

“Yeah? I heard Luke went home with you”

“Well you heard correct” Michael didn’t mean to say that with such attitude but he just didn’t know where Calum was going with this.

“It was just a simple observation, Michael” Ashton said rudely “No need to get all worked up” Michael just shook his head and continued putting his clothes back in his dresser drawer. He really didn’t feel like having some pointless conversation with Ashton at a time like this.

“I don’t see why the fuck it even matters if he came with me or not” Michael decided to say one last thing that he hoped would shut both of them up. It worked for a few seconds and then Ashton was sitting up on the bed more as Calum looked downright uncomfortable.

“This seems to be a really touchy subject for you. Hmm” Ashton let out a small chuckle “I wonder why that is”

“Well sorry that I don’t like hearing you talk shit about someone that happens to be my friend” Michael shot back at him as he closed his dresser drawer.

“Well it seems to me that you two might be more than friends” Ashton smirked and Michael felt his blood begin to boil.

“So what if we are” Michael said confidently as he looked back at Ashton for the first time and he glanced over to see Calum’s mouth slightly opened as he frantically ran his eyes around the room.

“I warned you….we both warned you about staying away from him and now…you’re fucking dating him?” Michael was angry and confused all at the same time. Why the hell did Ashton even care? It wasn’t like him and Ashton were even friends anymore. They were barely even friends to begin with.

“You know…” Michael did a slight smile as he felt his damn breaking a little and then he wiped it away completely as he looked away from the window and back at Ashton “Just because Luke completely screwed _you_ over doesn’t mean that he’s going to do the same thing to me and besides…I don’t even understand why you give a fuck. You act as if we’re fucking friends or something”

“This seems like a roommate thing. I’ll leave you to it” Calum said nervously as he quickly stood up and darted towards the door. Ashton watched the door slam shut with his jaw flexed and Michael went back to putting his clothes away but he could feel Ashton’s eyes burning into him.

“You’re right” Ashton’s sharp tone made Michael stop what he was doing “We’re not friends…and neither were me and Luke. If you want to be friends with someone as shitty as Luke then I guess I can’t stop you” Michael looked down at the floor as it seemed like Ashton was actually worried for him instead of just sounding like a control freak like usual.

“Luke is…” Michael couldn’t believe he was doing this but he was sick of Ashton hating Luke so much. If he was going to have to deal with being roommates with him for another year and a half things would have to go a lot more smooth than they have been going “Luke is really sorry for what he did to you…he told me he feels really shitty about it”

“That still doesn’t change what he did” Ashton said stubbornly as he looked down at his lap. Michael took a deep breath and went to go sit on the edge of his own bed and Ashton looked up at him with a pained face “You don’t even know how it feels to have your friend completely betray you” but Ashton was wrong about that.

“Actually I do” Ashton was confused at Michael’s words “The reason I’m here is because me and my friend got in trouble and he blamed it all on me…I know exactly what it feels like to be betrayed, Ashton”

“But…” Ashton shook his head in shock and tried to process everything “How can you be friends with Luke after what happened to you and knowing that he did the same thing to me?”

“Cause I trust him. It’s as simple as that” Michael looked out the window and smiled a bit. No matter what Ashton said he knew that he trusted Luke. There was no doubt that Luke has proved to Michael that he would never hurt him.

“Well I trusted him too, Michael” there was no heat behind Ashton’s voice now and they were talking as if they were friends again.

“I know you did” Michael felt bad as he looked up at Ashton’s face “I know you trusted him and he knows it’s his fault that you don’t trust people as easily now” Michael had to look away as he remembered how miserable Luke looked that day at the diner “You should have seen him when he was talking about you. It was like for a second he was remembering how it was to be friends with you and he had this smile on his face but it quickly went away when he started talking about what he did to you” Ashton seemed a bit speechless as he toyed with a string that was hanging off his blanket and he opened his mouth a few times to say something.

“It’s just been so long since we’ve talked…” Michael felt like he was finally getting somewhere with Ashton because he seemed like he was considering talking to Luke.

“Well…” Michael stood up and remembered that Luke was waiting for him “You really should give him a chance to apologize, Ashton. I have a feeling it would go a lot smoother than you think” all Ashton did was nod and Michael lingered in the room a few more seconds before leaving, knowing that Ashton wasn’t going to say anything more.

*

  
When Michael stepped out of the cold and into the Blitz dorm he could hear loud voices coming from the living room to his left and he quickly looked in there to see a bunch of them crowded around the center table.

“You cheating bastard!” Michael leaned against the doorway when he heard that and seen a friend of Luke’s standing up from the table.

“Oh fuck off” Michael smirked wide. He knew that voice and searched the table to see the back of Luke as he moved his head up to look at the other boy “You’re just pissed because I always win”

“No. You always cheat” the boy barked back. Luke mumbled something that Michael didn’t catch and then everyone around the table was erupting into laugher as one kid kindly slapped Luke on the back. The boy that accused Luke of cheating was the only one not enjoying it all as he just glared at Luke and then backed up from the table. A few of the kids were watching him leave and then a boy that Michael remembered as Reese was smiling wide at him.

“Clifford! Get your ass over here. We’re short one man now” Michael wasn’t much for cards but started walking towards them anyways and he felt his stomach twist a little when Luke was turning around to look at him with a smile already on his face. Michael returned the action and then nodded before taking the only empty seat that was next to Reese. A few of the other boys began talking while Luke was just eyeing Michael as he shuffled the cards.

“Where you been?” Luke asked casually. Michael did promise that he would go see Luke as soon as he was done packing so Luke probably expecting to see him earlier than what he did.

“Just had a little chat with Ashton” at the mention of the name a few kids stopped talking and looked at Michael but quickly went back to their conversations. Luke seemed like he wanted to ask what they talked about as his eyes lingered on Michael a few seconds more but then he was looking back down at the cards.

They ended up playing cards for almost an hour and Michael just loved watching how much attention Luke always got. There was constantly someone leaning over to say something to Luke or someone across the table shouting something and Michael knew that Luke loved every second of it. Michael could never imagine himself being as popular as him and didn’t know if he would particular like it either; always having the attention on him. It would probably just make him nervous.

Luke was currently laughing with his head down as the kid next to him was laughing into his hands but Michael had been zoning out so he had no idea why they were cracking up the way they were. Luke finally sat up and then wiped his eyes before standing up from the table. Michael watched his every move and held his breath for some reason.

“Alright I gotta have a smoke” Luke looked up at Michael and then nodded towards the back door that Michael didn’t even know was there. Michael got a warm feeling as Luke did a small smile at him and Michael stood up. He followed Luke out to the back patio that faced the woods and he took a seat across from Luke at the small glass table.

“So about that prank you had planned for us when we got back…” Michael was quick to be the one to talk first. He figured Luke would want to know what him and Ashton talked about and he hoped Luke wasn’t mad at him for saying what he did.

“Yeah I don’t know, Michael” Luke said casually and Michael couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Is Luke Hemmings turning down a chance to break the rules?” Michael smiled and Luke quickly returned it but Michael could tell he still hadn’t convinced Luke quite yet.

“I’m a changed man” Luke said in a song like tone and now Michael was even more confused. Before the break Luke seemed so excited for the prank he had planned and now he was saying he didn’t want any part of it.

“Luke come on-“

“What’d you and Ashton talk about?” Luke shot out and that was the question Michael was running away from. He felt Luke’s gaze on him as he kept glancing out into the woods “Michael” Luke’s stern voice had Michael looking back at him like it was a reflex.

“About you…” Michael mumbled and he couldn’t remember the last time he felt so shy around Luke. Probably not since the first time they met.

“That’s what I thought” Luke said after taking his cigarette out of his mouth.

“I just don’t want you guys on bad terms. It’s just hard cause he’s my roommate and you’re my-“Michael stopped dead in his tracks. He wasn’t exactly sure what they were. It felt like they were boyfriends. They did everything that people who were dating did but neither of them had ever put a label on it. “Anyways I just told him how sorry you were and-“

“I’m your what?” Luke asked confidently like he already knew the answer but Michael was glad he was letting the whole Ashton thing drop.

“Umm…” Michael felt himself getting shy again and he realized that he would probably always feel shy around Luke sometimes no matter how long they knew each other for. Luke just had this way of making him feel weak at the knees “What do you want us to be?” he asked softly while still not making eye contact with Luke.

“I asked your first” Michael could hear the smile in Luke’s voice and there was no way he was missing out on seeing that. Sure enough Luke was grinning behind his cigarette.

“I want you to be my boyfriend” Michael shot out before he lost the courage. He watched Luke’s face turn a shade of pink and he couldn’t believe it; Luke was blushing and he was the reason for it.

“Consider me all yours” Luke smiled wide and his face only seemed to get even pinker

“Well I want a kiss from my boyfriend” Michael didn’t understand where this wave of confidence came from but he knew that Luke loved it. Luke looked at Michael fondly for a few seconds before standing up from his chair and running a hand through Michael’s hair before settling it on his neck and pressing his lips to Michael’s.

“And you’re all mine baby” Luke whispered against Michael’s lip before diving forward for another kiss. Michel moaned out in agreement and even though it was close to below freezing out everywhere that Luke was touching him felt like he was on fire but it was a feeling that he never wanted to go away.

*

  
Michael ended up pulling Luke onto his lap and the kiss was getting very heated so Luke stood up and grabbed Michael’s hands before pulling him up.

As they walked back through the living room Luke was walking ahead of Michael while still holding on tight to his hand. Luke had never shown any physical contact with him like this in front of anyone else and it made Michael’s heart skip a beat.

He turned to see a few kids glancing at them from the table but they all didn’t look too shocked so Michael figured that they already knew. Him and Luke were around each other almost constantly and he figured they made it pretty obvious.

As they were climbing the stairs Michael couldn’t help but reach out and quickly squeeze Luke’s ass. Luke jumped in surprised then let out a laugh as Michael clung onto his waist. They finally made it to Luke’s room and Luke quickly got out of Michael’s grasp then pinned him up against the closed door. Michael could feel Luke’s hands roaming all over him and then Luke was pressing hard against his hips as he sucked bruises on Michael’s neck.

“Maybe this prank-ah fuck…” Michael moaned when Luke put a hand to his dick “Maybe we should fuck in some place we shouldn’t”

“We already did that, remember?” Luke chucked into Michael’s neck and he was reminded of the chapel incident.

“Come on Hemmings” Michael felt Luke heavily breathing as he leaned up to start putting kisses on his jaw and cheek “What’s this prank you’ve got planned?” Luke groaned a bit then back up to look at Michael.

“You aren’t going to let this go are you?”

“Like hell I am” Michael smirked.

“What have I turned you into..” Luke said to himself as he smiled and shook his head. Michael knew that Luke had agreed to it the second he looked up at him “I hope you’re ready for this one Clifford”

*

  
“Abe is looking a bit dull and depressed if I don’t say so myself” Luke crossed his arms over his chest as Michael stood beside him. “He could definitely use some color” They were standing in the middle of the quad looking up at the Abe Lincoln statue that stood out against the dark sky and Michael had really never looked twice at but now that he was he couldn’t believe how tall it was.

He also couldn’t believe how nervous he was all of a sudden. He refused to let Luke see him like this; after all, Michael practically begged Luke to go through with this but here they were finally doing it and Michael felt like running as far away as possible. He watched Luke squat down and rummage through the paper bag that he had set on the ground. The cold wind was blowing his hood on his jacket and his hair as he stood up straight again with some kind of clothing in his hand. The only light was the one off in the distance that was above the front of the doors of the main school building.

“What the hell is that?” Michael got a little closer but still couldn’t tell.

“Well in some cultures it called a dress” Luke said in his smart ass tone “Would you care to do the honors, Michael?” Michael took the dress even though he was still a bit unsure of what they were doing.

“Wait….” Michael looked up to the statue then back to the dress “You want me to put it on the statue?”

“You see…” Luke drifted off and looked upwards again “This statue is the heart and soul of this school really. It was built before anything else was and I’ll be damned if it stands here any longer without some sort of attention”

“You mean no one has ever messed with it?”

“Roman and I went through some of the schools files a few years back and we realized that no one in the history of Lincoln prep has ever dared to fuck with it” Michael nodded as he focused on it again and then he looked back at Luke who had so much hope in his eyes.

Michael swallowed hard before walking up to it and grabbing one of its arms to pull himself up a little. He was now eye to eye with it and for some reason felt intimidated. Its head was three times the size of his own and Michael carefully got the dress in position over its head before bringing it down. He felt himself laughing at his whole situation.

“Just imagine the look on Monticello’s face when he sees this” Luke said below him “It will probably send him into cardiac arrest” the dress was now sitting over the statues shoulders and then Michael was pulling it down more as it stopped just above its knees. Michael still couldn’t see it all too well but he knew it looked utterly ridiculous. Michael took one last look at it before carefully climbing down and standing next to Luke again.

“That dress really brings out his eyes, don’t you think?” Michael laughed loudly at that and leaned into Luke and felt Luke kiss his head before kneeling on the ground once again. The wind started to blow harsher as a chill ran through Michael and he wished he had Luke to cuddle into. He was just always so warm “Now all he needs is some color on that boring face of his” Luke was holding something behind his back but Michael couldn’t tell what it was “Cause I’m going to be honest Abe…you look like shit” it took a second for Michael to see what Luke did with this choice of words but once he did he couldn’t stop giggling into his coat sleeve. Luke shot him a smile and then brought what was behind his back into clear view for Michael to see. Michael couldn’t remember at time when he went from happy to feeling sick to his stomach in under a second. He started down at Luke’s hand with widened eyes as he couldn’t stop the flashbacks from overtaking him.

_“Michael, don’t be such a fucking pansy ass” Max waved the spray paint can in his face “I can’t draw skulls worth a shit and you can. Now here” Michael was violently shaking his head but Max just kept trying to shove the can into his hand. His voice was echoing through the nearly empty gym as Michael looked ahead to see the front door still wide open from when they came in. The school always seemed so strange at night and unfortunately this wasn’t the first time him and Max had snuck in after hours._

_“I told you I would be here to be the look out and that’s it” Michael finally found the breath to talk back to Max. He remembered the conversation that they had a few hours prior when they were sitting in this very room talking about how plain and boring the walls were. Max, of course, was the one who felt like it was their duty to decorate it since they both did so “well” in art class. Michael did okay but really it was always Max’s thing. “Besides this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when you said ‘let’s decorate it a bit’”_

_“_ _It’s really not that big of a deal” Max looked back to the wall and began spraying the letter “A” on it. “See? No big deal”_

_“Vandalism is no big deal?” Michael said in a dull tone as he glared at Max “People go to fucking jail for this shit”_

_“What the hell has gotten into you?”_

_“_ _Jesus, Max. This is so much fucking bigger than what we’ve done before. Now I said I’d be here to look out for you and I am but I’m not touching a single paint can” Michael felt pretty confident with what he said and he knew he would stand by his words. Max rolled his eyes away and seemed to be backing down. Michael let out a relieved breath then watched Max drawing some sort of bulls eye next to the big painting of their mascot “I hope you aren’t going to go overboard with this” Michael could see Max’s determined look on his face._

_“Hand me that purple can will ya?” Max said it so casually that without thinking about it Michael bent down and grabbed it and went to hand it to him and then his face went red: red with embarrassment that he gave in to Max so easily and also with anger towards himself for always doing whatever Max told him._

_“Thought you said you weren’t touching a single paint can?” Max smirked with his perfect teeth. It was the smile that reeled Michael into everything that Max asked him to do and he hated himself for that._

_“Fuck off” Michael mumbled as he clenched his jaw. Max smiled wider and luckily took the can before leaning over and pressing a kiss to Michael’s lips but immediately sticking his tongue into his mouth. Max never knew the meaning of the saying “taking it slow” and everything was always so intense with him. Sometimes Michael hated that characteristic about him._

_“But you really are missing out on this”_

_“I said no and I meant it” Michael stood his ground even as Max stood only an inch away from his face and rubbed his tongue against his own lip, knowing it drove Michael crazy._

_“Fine” Max flexed his jaw and went back to the wall “But I hope you know that if we get busted it doesn’t matter who painted on these walls and who didn’t; were both fucked”_

“I can’t..I can’t fucking do it. I’m sorry, I can’t” Michael was mumbling “I can’t” over and over and the only thing he could feel was his face that was pressed into his hands and the slight feeling of someone else with a grip on his arms. His senses began to come back slowly as he could now feel the wet snow under him and then the feeling of someone rubbing up and down his arms. All he could see was darkness and he realized that was only because he had his face still in his hands. All of a sudden he could hear a faint voice but it seemed miles away and then all at once he could feel and hear everything.

“Michael!” one of the hands rubbing at his arms moved up to his hair and Michael felt himself finally beginning to calm down at the touch “Baby look at me” those words alone were enough for Michael to lift up his head and he could now see who was in front of him. Luke…his Luke; his beautiful Luke that he loved so much…that he loved more than anything and he just leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his torso.

He noticed that he was in fact on the ground and Luke was rubbing soothing circles on his back. Michael started to feel pathetic for getting so worked up after seeing a spray paint can. He clearly wasn’t with Max anymore and he started to come back to reality even more.

“I’m sorry…fuck I’m sorry. I just seen the paint can and I lost it. I’m sorry” Michael whispered into his neck and he felt Luke pulling back.

“Stop apologizing” his voice somehow seemed soft and stern at the same time and Michael just nodded “Bringing the paint cans was really ignorant me. Honestly I don’t know what I was thinking. Are you okay?” Michael just reached up to run his fingers down Luke’s face; almost as if he was making sure he was real and that he really wasn’t back in the gym with Max. He was here with Luke and he was safe. He kept repeating those words in his head.

“I’m okay” Michael finally breathed out and Luke grabbed Michael’s hand before leaving a few kisses on his fingers. Luke was so incredible and Michael was realizing that even more after that intense flashback that made him feel like Max was literally right next to him.

“Fuck” Luke breathed out and he leaned forward to put a soft kiss on Michael’s cheek and then just leaned against his face “You’re okay” Michael realized that Luke was telling himself this and Michael felt tears begin to form as he held Luke back just as tight. “Let’s head back alright?” Michael was surprised when he felt himself shaking his head “no”.

“We’re already out here….we might as well go all the way” Michael did his best to smile after nearly having an anxiety attack from the flashback and Luke leaned back to scan his eyes all over Michael’s face.

“No way” Luke said quickly and then he was standing up and pulling Michael with him “Come on, we’re going back”

“I gotta do this” Michael grabbed the can from Luke’s hand.

“No you don’t” Luke said louder than before as he grabbed the can back “You don’t have to prove anything to me, Michael”

“I want to do this” Michael grabbed the can and this time he started walking towards the statue. He climbed it just like he did before but this time it was different. He felt Luke’s stare at his back as he held the paint can tightly before bringing it up to the torso of it. He suddenly felt a hand on his back and Luke was holding him in place as he stood next to him. Michael smiled wide and Luke did the same.

“If you fall and break your leg it’s going to be me taking care of your crippled ass” he acted as if the was complaining but the fond look on his face said otherwise. Michael just quickly put a kiss on his temple before starting to paint on the solid structure in front of them. Michael had to admit that he was getting a bit of satisfaction vandalizing something that was so important.

He decided to paint a penis on it because it was the only thing he could think of that was simple enough but at the same time it wasn’t too boring either and it would for sure get a laugh out of a few people. The wind blew his hair around and he chuckled when he felt Luke patting it down again and then his hand was right back to supporting Michael to make sure he didn’t fall.

“I’m not gonna lie…this is kind of turning me on” Luke chuckled into Michael’s neck and it gave him chills in a way that only Luke could.

“Yeah?” Michael rose his eyebrows at Luke and Luke simple nodded “Well I based it off of yours actually” Luke let out a loud laugh as he let his head fall on Michael’s shoulder.

“Jesus Christ…I remember when you first got here you were terrified of getting detention and look at you now” Luke motioned to the painting “Drawing dicks on the school statue”

“You’ve taught me well” Michael grinned and he watched Luke’s face turn from a smile into a look of complete horror in what seemed like under a second. Michael nearly jumped out of his own skin as felt Luke rip the can out of his hand with such force that it actually hurt him. “Luke-“

“Boys!” Michael was trying to focus on the Luke in front of him who looked more scared than he had ever seen anyone look. He was trying to ignore the way he could feel his heart beat in every part of his body as the older man’s voice ripped through him.

He refused to look where Luke was looking…he just couldn’t do it; not when he could see how utterly terrified his boyfriend was at the sight. He glanced down to see the can still in Luke’s hand and that was when he could see that Luke was shaking but he knew it wasn’t out of being cold. It was like watching a car crash as Luke stepped down off the statute and pulled Michael with him. He felt Luke lightly rub his arms before letting go completely and then, as if on auto pilot, Michael felt himself turning around to face none other than Monticello on the back steps.

  
*

As they were walking up the steps Luke reached out and tightly squeezed Michael’s hand and it really helped the both of them to calm down. Michael had no idea what would happen once he got inside but he knew it would be nothing like when he got in trouble with Max.

At his old school it was one of the janitors that caught them and they didn’t even meet with the principle until the next day. Michael could still remember the sick feeling he got as he walked into the principal’s office and the feeling of complete betrayal when he realized that Max blamed him for it all. He just hoped he didn’t go into complete shock like he had outside when these memories came flooding back to him.

Monticello would probably have him sent to a mental institution and put in a strait jacket. Michael knew he was overeating but he couldn’t help it at a time like this. Luke didn’t touch him after that and it was when Michael needed it the most. He needed Luke’s comforting touch as they were escorted down the dimly lit corridors. He needed it when Monticello turned around to glare at the both of them before opening the office door and he needed it the most when all he had to stare at was the dark door of the headmasters office. All Monticello had to do was glance at Luke and Luke was walking into his office without further questioning. Michael missed him straight away and he felt lost while he sat out in the main office by himself. Luke never turned back to look at him when he was going into the office and Michael thought that maybe that was a good thing. It probably would have made them both break down in tears.

*

Too much time had passed and it felt like Michael had been sitting in this chair across from the headmasters office for hours. The worst part was that he couldn’t even hear either of them talking. The room must have been soundproof because the only sound he could hear was the heater kicking on every few minutes. The silence was really getting to him and knowing that Luke was just behind that door getting lectured made him feel so useless.

He wished there was something he could do to make this all better. All of this steadily began to feel like it was entirely his fault. If Michael wouldn’t have had that breakdown after those flashbacks then they could have gotten the job done faster. If Michael wouldn’t have insisted with continuing on with the plan to spray paint the statue then they also could have left the area sooner, thus not being caught by Monticello. They were both getting punished because of this and Michael knew he was entirely to blame. He had never hated himself more than this very moment.

At this very moment he could almost see the sad face of Luke as Monticello went on and on about how awful this thing was that they did. Michael’s hands began to get sore from gripping onto his knees so tightly and then he brought one of his hands to start biting at the skin on his knuckles. It was another nervous habit of his, along with digging his nails into his scalp but he hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Michael was scared of seeing Luke when he came out of the office because he knew how much it would tear him up to see Luke looking so miserable but at the same time he couldn’t wait to see him. Luke always had a way of calming him down and he just needed to see his face again, hoping that Luke too would feel a bit better seeing his face.

Michael nearly jumped out of seat when he heard the main office doors slam shut and he slowly looked over to see a large man that looked like he could be someone’s body guard walking towards him. He gulped hard as the man stared him down and he became very afraid of why this man was even here in the first place and also why he hasn’t ever seen him around before.

The large man luckily disappeared into one of the back rooms of the office and Michael felt like he could breathe again. Unfortunately the air was taken right back out of him as he whipped his head back to the headmasters door that was slowly opening. All he could see was the back of Luke as Monticello said one more thing to him that he couldn’t make out. Seeing even a little of Luke was enough to get his heart beating fast and he just wanted Luke to look at him already.

“Send Michael in immediately” Michael started to feel sick at hearing his own name and then he watched as Luke was nodding and finally turning to face him. Luke looked even worse than what Michael had expected and Michael could feel the tears forming in his eyes. Luke slowly walked towards Michael with his hands in his pants pockets and Michael stood up as Luke closed his eyes for a few seconds before getting a few inches away from him. Michael frantically inspected Luke’s face as he looked dully at him and his hair was a mess like he had been pulling at it out of nervousness.

“Luke…” Michel said weakly when Luke’s dull look on his face hadn’t changed and he still hadn’t muttered a word to him.

“Please promise me something” Michael immediately started nodding and felt a chill run through him at Luke’s rough voice “Just-“

“Luke it’s time to go” Michael jumped when the larger man from before had appeared again and he could feel the mans eyes boring into them. He still didn’t dare to look away from Luke though. Luke glanced away for a moment then took a deep breath.

“Just go along with what he says okay? Please promise that you’ll do that..for me” Luke shot out quickly but he was whispering it.

“Luke what’re you-“Michael had no idea what was going on and what Luke was saying didn’t make any sense to him. What did Luke tell Monticello?

“Luke we’re leaving now” and then the larger man was appearing next to them and pulling at Luke’s arm. Michael felt so much anger run through him at seeing this man touch Luke. Luckily Luke ripped his arm away from the man but started following him. Michael was breathing heavy as he was just waiting for Luke to look back at him. He needed Luke to look back at him.

“Luke…” Michael didn’t even realize he was crying until his voice came out sounding like a whimper but it made Luke quickly turn around to look at him before the office door was being pulled shut by the large man. When Luke was no longer in sight Michael pinched his eyes shut and tried to make them dry out so that Monticello didn’t see him all weak like this. He stared at the office door and quickly reached for it thinking that he just needed to get it over with.

“Sit down” Monticello said harshly and Michael practically ran to the chair as he slumped down in it. He had never felt so small in his entire life with Monticello towering over him behind his desk. Something else was eating away at him too and it was as if someone else was making him say the words out loud.

“Where did that man take Luke?” Michael bit his lip and looked back down as soon as he said it.

“That does not concern you Mr. Clifford” Michael began to remember the first time he ever sat in his very chair. He felt a different kind of nervous than what he had felt then and he was reminded of Monticello telling him to stay away from the “bad eggs”. He had surely disobeyed Monticello’s words and he could sense the headmasters anger towards him as he finally sat down in his chair behind the desk. “Now you do not need me to tell you that what you did was wrong but I am here to make sure you never do it again” Michel started to feel his throat closing up but his head was still in a whole other place. It was as if he could see Luke being escorted down the hall. It was like he was with him as he walked outside and across the quad. It all became a blur after that and Michel was forced to look back at Monticello “Believe it or not I was a boy once too” Michael couldn’t help but widen his eyes at Monticello’s sudden soft words and then he became very confused on where this was going “I had other students trying to pressure me into all kind of things but I was strong enough to say ‘no’. You were not” Michael refrained from rolling his eyes. If only Monticello knew that if anything it was Michael who peer pressured Luke into doing it. It was Luke’s idea but Michael made him go through with it. “Now” Monticello stood up again and leaned against the window and Michael was considering throwing himself out of it if this lecture didn’t end soon.

“Since Luke confessed and told me the truth…your punishment will not be nearly as bad as his-“Michael zoned out after that. Confessed? What did Luke confess to and why wasn’t Michael’s punishment just as bad, if not worse, than Luke’s? Michael was the one who did the spray painting and he was the one who put the dress on the statue. There had to be some kind of mistake. Michael did everything…Luke didn’t do a single thing.

“I’m sorry what?” Michael practically shouted and Monticello looked shocked at his sudden outburst.

“Well what part confused you, Michael?”

“Why is Luke’s punishment….” Michael took a few deep breaths “But why is it worse than mine? What is going to happen to him?” Monticello narrowed his eyes at Michael and cleared his throat.

“Well Luke claimed that he forced you into coming with him to vandalize the statue. He also stated that he was the one who did all the vandalizing”

“He…he what?” this time Michael knew he had said it way louder than necessary and he was way past caring about it. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Luke was taking blame for the whole thing when in reality that wasn’t the case at all. Michael should be getting the punishment that Luke was getting. This wasn’t fair. Michael right then let his head drop and began digging his nails into his scalp.

“So what your punishment will be is kitchen duty for the next couple of weeks” Michael almost screamed out of anger at Monticello not explaining more of what Luke had said. He wanted more answers but at the same time he just needed to get out of this stuffy office. It was becoming hard for him to breathe and he loosened his collar.

“Just please tell me what Luke’s punishment is going to be” Michael practically begged. He was just so fed up with Monticello ignoring his questions, this one in particular.

“Now I’ve told you Mr. Clifford” Monticello raised his voice and Michael just wanted to curl up in a ball and die “It doesn’t concern you. Now you are to report to the cafeteria kitchen every day until….” Monticello started looking through a small notebook on his desk. The sound of the flipping pages were the only sound to be heard. “Until February 13t and if you don’t show up even one time…I will be expelling you. Do we have an understanding?” Michael felt himself nodding, as if he was watching someone else do the action and he was just copying them.

None of this seemed real and all he could think about was how all he was getting was kitchen duty and Luke was being led away by the bodyguard man.

“You’re free to go” Michael let out a sigh of relief at the word “free” and he quickly stood up “But I want you to know that I’m giving you a break” Michael stopped in the open door way as he faced the hallway “And it’s only because I know exactly what kind of person Luke is” Michael felt frozen for a few seconds and thought about just turning around and telling Monticello the truth.

He thought about telling him that Luke didn’t do it and that he should be getting the worse punishment. He wanted Monticello to think differently of Luke, wanting to prove to the headmaster that Luke wasn’t to blame for this but then he felt Luke’s words echoing in his head: _Just go along with what he says okay? Please promise that you’ll do that..for me._ Michael gritted his teeth and just let a few tears run down his face before slamming the door shut behind him and exciting the office feeling more guilty and miserable than he ever has.


	13. Day 30 (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might add another chapter after this or an epilogue if you guys want one...but it won't be for a little while cause I need a break from writing. I just don't want to force anything. Anyways I hope you guys like this! let me know <3 and thank you to everyone who has stuck by this fic. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

Michael managed to make it to the Blitz dorm within a few minutes but he was drenched from head to toe as the rain came down hard. It almost felt like hurricane weather and as soon as Michael was inside he leaned against the door as he tried to catch his breath.

He felt so alone without Luke because he had no one else to go to and his only hope was that the large man only escorted him to his room. Michael didn’t know why that was necessary but he just hoped it was true.

He climbed the stairs as he shivered and his stomach was killing him from all the running. Slowly the lights began to flicker on as he made his way down the hallway and he hoped that no one would notice. The last thing he needed right now was to be in more trouble, even though he knew he deserved it.

He came to Luke’s door and twisted the knob to see it was still locked meaning that Luke never came back to his room. Michael began to worry even more because where else could he be? Michael didn’t have the mental or physical strength to walk anywhere so he sunk down the door and curled his knees up to his chest as he put his head down. He could feel his eyes burning once again and he knew he had started crying again.

Awful thoughts of never being able to see Luke ever again entered his mind and at that he couldn’t help but let out a loud whimper into his arms. He started to get hiccups when his crying got even more intense and he tried so hard not think of all the bad things that could be happening to Luke. He had to push those thoughts away or else he would end up having an anxiety attack. He jumped sky high as the creaking of a door filled the silent hallway. His fear faded a bit when he seen Roman coming out of his room with a concerned look on his face and only wearing a pair of flannel pajama pants

“Michael?” he whispered and all Michael did was put his face back in his arms again as he choked back more sobs. He heard his footsteps getting closer and then a whole new voice was filling up the hallway and Michael whipped his head up.

“Roman what are you-“the boy stopped talking when he seen Michael’s wide eyes pointed at him and Michael had no idea what was going on. Why was Ashton coming out of Roman’s room? All of a sudden Roman was crouching down in front of Michael and stealing his gaze away from Ashton.

“What’re you doing out here man?”Roman’s kind voice reminded him of Luke’s, and although it was comforting, it only made Michael cry more “Hey…” he felt Roman lightly touch his arm “Let’s get out of the hallway before someone sees us okay?” Michael felt himself nodding and let Roman help pull him up to his feet.

He was being led towards Roman’s room and once he entered he looked up to see Ashton in barely any clothing either as he sat at the edge of Roman’s bed looking way too nervous to be doing something innocent. Roman once again made him stop looking at Ashton as he had Michael sit down on the other bed and wrapped a blanket around him. Michael started to relax a little as his body tried to heat up

“So where is Luke? I noticed that he never came back after you guys left and I was getting really worried” Roman had known about their little prank they had planned so Michael was happy he wouldn’t have to explain all of that to him. A little part of him hoped that Roman told Ashton too, even though he didn’t deserve to know.

“We umm….”Michael sniffled and looked away from the floor “We got caught” he heard both of the boys take a gasp of air when he said those words but Michael continued “And Luke he….” Michael still couldn’t believe any of that had really happened; couldn’t believe that Luke just took everything that had happened and it put it on himself “Luke took the blame…for everything” Michael was sobbing now “And he wasn’t even the one who fucking did it! I was the one who did the vandalizing…not him! It was me and he just said that he did it all and I don’t understand why he would do that to himself”

Both of the boys were silent for what seemed like hours and then Ashton was muttering an “oh my god” and walking towards the window. Michael watched him lean against it and began to feel a different kind of sadness in the pit of his stomach. Luke had pushed all the blame on a boy who he had been friends with since grade school but for Michael, a boy he had only known for a few short weeks, he had completely taken the blame off of him and put it all on to himself. He could almost feel what Ashton was thinking as he leaned against the window. It was bordering on jealousy and anger. Michael couldn’t decipher which one was stronger but either way he knew hearing that had killed Ashton. Roman was opening his mouth to say something but then Ashton was stepping away from the window and running a hand over his face as he let out a breath.

“So you’re the one who did it…” Ashton pointed at Michael “But Luke said that he did it…just to save your ass?” Michael realized he was leaning more towards the anger side of it now. Michael didn’t know what to say so he just looked down at his lap. “He’s only known you for like a fucking month!” Ashton said throwing his arms up and for some reason Michael felt himself getting angry too.

“I don’t know why the fuck he did it either! Okay? I have no idea why he would do that for me” Michael rubbed at the bridge of his nose and tried to calm down

“Before I walked into Monticello’s office Luke made me promise that I would go along with what Monticello said…I didn’t understand what the hell he meant by that but when I got in there I realized what he had told him and I should have told Monticello that Luke lied and that I really did all the vandalizing but I didn’t…I didn’t and I really fucking wished that I would have. I know I wouldn’t feel like such a piece of shit right now if I had”

“No…Michael no” Roman’s soft voice seemed to calm down the room quite a bit and he felt Roman sitting next to him “You didn’t do anything wrong. Luke wanted to take the blame for you and I know exactly why he did” Michael wiped at his eyes and looked up at Roman.

“Why did he do it?” Michael managed to get out.

“Because he cares about you more than anything” Roman said simply “He used come over to my room all the time and I swear I’ve never heard him talk about anyone the way he talks about you. Luke’s never been afraid of being in trouble and he knows you are…so he didn’t want you to have to deal with that”

“He still…he still didn’t have to do that” Michael whispered and shook his head “He’s probably going to get expelled now and I’ll” Michael felt the tears coming again “And I’ll never get to see him again…I just can’t deal with that. I need him” Michael was curling into himself again and he seen Roman looking at Ashton like they were having some secret conversation.

“I promise you that he won’t be getting expelled” Roman said so confidently but Michael didn’t understand how he could be so sure of that.

“How do you know?”

“Shit” Roman rubbed at his jaw and looked shocked “I can’t believe he hasn’t told you” and Michael quickly picked his head up and began to panic again. What was it that Michael didn’t know? And why had Luke kept it from him?

“What are you talking about? Told me what?” he spit out fast and Ashton was nervously shifting on his feet.

“It’s pretty much impossible for Luke to get expelled because….” Michael hated the suspense of this all and just wished Roman would spit it out already “Luke is Monticello’s son, Michael” Michael felt his stomach dropping and it almost felt like he was the only one in the room as his heart was beating fast.

“What…what the fuck” Michael whispered to himself and he was zoning out on the floor. It all made sense now; the reason why Luke could get away with skipping class all the time, the reason that he was never scared of getting in trouble. He didn’t know why the thought never came to him before. Monticello’s words came into his head suddenly: And it’s only because I know exactly what kind of person Luke is. “He’s the headmaster’s son” Michael repeated to himself.

“Well step son actually but Luke’s real dad left when he was like five…so Monticello practically raised him” Roman chirped in but Michael still felt a little upset that Luke never told him. It made him feel like Luke didn’t trust him. Michael would never judge him and especially not for something like that. “So yeah…Luke is not getting expelled. If Monticello planned on ever expelling him it would have happened a long time ago”

“But where did they take him though? Where is he?” it was the reason Michael was freaking out to begin with and now that everything was out of the way he was back to worrying about where he might be.

“Wait…who took him?” Roman seem genuinely confused for the first time since Michael came in his room.

“I don’t know who it w-was..I don’t know. It was just this large man..he had a mustache and-“

“Zender” Roman all of a sudden said.

“Well who is he?”

“I know where Luke is” Roman then shook his head “I’ve just never known anyone that has gotten that punishment…except for….” Roman looked back to Ashton who had all of a sudden turned pale. “He’s in the isolation room. Which also happens to be where they sent Ashton when Luke..you know” Roman drifted off and then Ashton was walking over to sip at his coffee.

“It looks like he’s getting a taste of his own medicine” Ashton mumbled behind his cup. Michael ignored him and instead looked to Roman for more answers.

“Basically he’ll just be in this small building for a week and he isn’t allowed to leave. They bring him food and that’s the only kind of human contact he’ll have but he’ll be fine Michael; really, he’s a tough son of a bitch”

“Okay but where is it at?” Michael suddenly stood up feeling like he could fight a war if it meant he could see Luke.

“Well it’s behind the pool building...it’s this small like circle building…it almost looks like it’s just for storage or something”

“Is there a way to get inside?”

“Michael….” Roman stood up to get in front of him and got a serious look on his face “Luke just totally screwed himself over to save you from getting in trouble and now…now you’re going to risk getting in trouble again?” Michael felt like someone had just punched him in the face at hearing Roman’s words. He was right and Michael hated it. He still had the burning passion to see Luke though…he had to see him. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep properly or even go on with normal activities until he seen him.

“I know…” Michael said quietly “I just have to see him though, Roman. He’s in there all alone right now and I can’t stand the thought of that. Just please help me” Michael could see the exact moment when Roman had changed his mind and then he was nodding as he opening his closet and on the back was probably about a hundred sets of golden keys. Luke was right. He had literally every key to every room in the school. Roman faced him again with a small key in his hand, smaller than the others.

“I’ve never had to use this one before….” He said looking down at it “But umm…I think this is a pretty damn good reason to put it to use” Roman smiled wide at Michael and he couldn’t help but return it.

“Thank you….I owe you one. Seriously”

“That’s right…you do” he said simply but Michael knew there was something right behind it “Just don’t tell Luke about you know…..” Roman glanced back at Ashton “Me and Ash and I’ll consider us even alright?” Michael was nodding before Roman even finished. He knew how pissed Luke would be if he found out Roman kept something like this from him. “But I’m going to tell him…just as soon as him and Ash smooth things over” Michael looked over to see Ashton smiling a bit.

“I think it will be sooner than you think” Michael smirked and Roman just nodded.

“Alright now scram” Roman waved towards the door “Your boys’ waiting”

  
*

Michael was fast walking through the wet grass as he just passed the pool building he could still feel the slight droplets of rain falling off the trees above him. He was using the flash light Roman had given him as he flashed it all over and finally settled on a small brick building with a weirdly circled roof. It did seem like a storage building with how small it was and Michael felt his heart racing at how close Luke was to him. He leaned against the wooden door of it, just knowing that Luke was right on the other side and he rested the flashlight under his chin as he pushed the key into the lock. It only took him a few seconds to twist the key around before it was being unlocked and Michael was pushing the door open. It felt like he could breathe properly again as Luke jumped up from the small bed and looked like he was about to fight or something. Michael chuckled a little.

“M-Michael?” it felt so good to hear his voice again “Why are you here? How did you even get in here?” Michael just smiled a little and held up the key.

“Roman” he simply said and then he was pressing the key into his pocket and walking towards Luke. He instantly wrapped his arms around Luke’s shoulders and brought him into his chest. Luke didn’t hesitate to hold him back just as tight and then Michael was pressing kisses all over his hair. “Fuck” Michael felt the tears coming on again and leaned back a little to start pressing quick kisses all over Luke’s face “Luke why did you do that? I was the one who did it and I should be the one stuck in here; not you” he was full on sobbing now and was having a hard time talking and Luke backed up a bit and took Michael’s face in his hands.

“Listen…I told him that because I wanted to. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle knowing that you were stuck in here while I was out there. Besides…I should have gotten in trouble when Ashton did so I deserve this. You don’t”

“But Luke-“Michael whined and then he was getting cut off by Luke kissing him and gripping his neck as he tugged them back towards the bed. They laid down so that they were facing each other and then Luke was brushing his fingers through Michael’s hair.

“Plus ummm….when you were having those flashbacks in the quad...you uh” Luke looked down at the blanket and covered them both up with it “You called me ‘Max’ and I wanted to prove to you that I wasn’t” Michael’s face began to lose color and he shut his eyes tightly.

“I’m sorry, Luke” he whimpered “It just felt so real and I really felt like I was with Max again…I know you’re nothing like him. He’s a complete monster and you’re you” Michael leaned forward and pecked a kiss to his lips “You’re fucking perfect” Luke took a deep breath and kissed Michael eagerly as he let his hand fall down to Michael’s waist and brought him even closer so that they were laying there chest to chest. “And I understand why you hate your dad so much. I hate him too” Michael did a slight smile but Luke’s frown just deepened.

“Jesus” Luke ran a hand through his hair “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. At first I didn’t tell you just because I didn’t want you to judge me…I guess I didn’t want to tell you anything that might push you away. After that, I don’t know, I guess it was kind of hard to tell you. I didn’t want to ruin any of the good moments we had”

“You could never push me away, Luke. I’ll always be here” Michael ran his hand up Luke’s chest and stopped right where his heart was before kissing his neck. He slung his arm over to start rubbing his fingers up and down his spine as he kissed up and down Luke’s jaw. Suddenly he heard Luke sniffling and it felt like his heart had stopped. Michael leaned back a little to see Luke opening his eyes and tear running down his face. Michael reached out to wipe it away and it made Luke close his eyes again. When he opened them again Michael was still brushing his thumb across his cheek and Luke leaned forward to press a soft kiss to Michael’s cheek and then his lips before he leaned back a little so he could look at Michael.

“I love you so much, Michael” those words made Michael forget about everything and just focus on this beautiful boy in front of him. He closed his eyes and repeated the words in his head before kissing Luke back fiercely and pressing their foreheads together when they had to catch their breaths. They were both breathing heavy and Michael put a hand on Luke’s face again.

“I love you too” Michael breathed out and then he was kissing Luke again “Fuck I love you more than anything” Luke made a sound that was between a moan and a whimper and he dug his hands into Michael’s hair as he kissed him again.

“And I’m sorry it took me so long to say it” Luke rubbed a hand up and down Michael’s arm “I heard you when you told me you loved me on Christmas eve but I was just scared…I’ve never had anyone tell me they love me and I just couldn’t fucking believe that someone as beautiful as you ever could” Luke took a deep breath and scanned his eyes all over Michael’s face.

“Well you were wrong” Michael smiled and kissed him again “And I swear I’ve loved you ever since day one” Luke started to slowly nod as he brought Michael right to his chest and ran a hand through his hair.

“Me too” Luke smiled wide but it seemed like he wanted to say something more “I have to ask you something that has kind of been bothering me”

“Yeah, anything” Michael said quickly

“What did your mom say to you before you got in the car?” Michael had to think of what he was talking about for a moment then it came to him.

“Oh!” Michael giggled a little so Luke smiled “She was asking me if I wanted to go back to my old school for senior year” Luke’s smile faded a bit until it was a full on frown “You’re fucking crazy if you’d ever think I’d leave, Luke” Michael laughed and ran a hand through his hair.

“I love you” Luke said kissing him again and smiling.

“I love you too, Luke”


	14. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is my proudest work so I had a lot of fun writing this epilogue and I may have gotten a bit emotional..Hope you guys love it as much as I loved writing it! The song mentioned in this is one that I fell in love with when I was about 16 (So like 6 years ago holy shit) and I’m still obsessed with it (I think I would actually die if Luke did a cover of this song in real life)…also if you’ve heard the song you’ll see that I changed the female pronouns to male ones...you know, to fit Michael and Luke’s relationship.

_Senior Year_

Michael was frantically looking all through the crowds of people looking for that certain blond boy that seemed to be late for everything.

He had been looking for close to 10 minutes and he was actually started to get pretty stressed out. Being around this many people was making him feel uncomfortable enough but he was feeling even worse without Luke by his side. Luke just always had a way of making him feel better and without him he just felt lost.

Michael did another scan of the room and came up with nothing.

Finally his eyes landed on Roman and Ashton standing in doorway of the Auditorium with people that looked like their family and friends. He rushed over to them and Roman already looked worried.

“You can’t find him can you?” Roman said with a slight laugh as he crossed his arms and then Ashton was focusing on Michael too.

“Nope” Michael let out a breath and stood in front of them “I don’t understand why he chooses literally the worst times to be MIA” Roman reached forwards to fix the cap on Michael’s head then smiled.

Michael thought that Ashton and Roman both looked way better in their graduation robes than he did and he knew Luke would look amazing in his…that is as soon as Michael could find him.

“Remember what I said before?” Michael looked confused at Roman’s words “He can only be in two places: The pool house or the Chapel” and Michael groaned.

“Why does he always do this?” Michael said more metaphorically than an actual question and Ashton and Roman just did small laughs.

“When you do find him tell him he still owes me 20 bucks from last night” Ashton said sounding briefly irritated.

“For what?’ Michael asked in a curious tone.

“Poker” Ashton said simply as he widened his eyes.

“Wait he lost to you in poker?”Michael let out a laugh and Ashton narrowed his eyes a bit.

“Hey…don’t sound so surprised. He’s not that good okay?”

“I’m curious too though” Roman laughed along with Michael “How in the hell did you beat Luke at poker? Did you slip something in his drink or something?”

“Fuck off” Ashton said lightly as he tried not to smile “He was drunk”

“Well that explains it” Michael shot out and Roman nodded at him while he was still smiling.

“I could beat him when he’s sober” Ashton said confidently and Michael and Roman just shook their heads as they laughed. 

“Fuck you guys”

“Alright alright” Michael put his hands up and started to walk away.

“20 bucks Michael!” Ashton shouted back to him and Michael just waved a hand over his head before making his way to the exit out of the big room.

The halls were empty and the bright lights were hurting his eyes. Michael started to get a sad feeling in his stomach knowing that him and Luke wouldn’t ever walk these halls after midnight ever again.

All of their senior year they would sneak into the kitchen almost every night after midnight and just sit on the counter and pig out on food until they both felt like they were going to pass out.

When he had first moved here he never thought in a million years that he would actually be sad when graduation day came.

Soon the warm spring air was hitting his face and he was making his way across the quad.

He couldn’t help but always smile when he seen the Abraham Lincoln statue and remember that he would visit Luke in the Isolation Room every night until the day he was released.

He even dragged Ashton along with him one night to see Luke and that was the night they made peace with each other. Michael remembers sitting against the wall on Luke’s bed as he watched Ashton and Luke reminisce and slowly start to become friends again. He didn’t even mind that their conversation went on for hours without either of them really paying much attention to him, although Luke reached over and grabbed his hand at some point and didn’t let it go until they had to leave, he just wanted them to be okay again.

He remembers the day that Luke got released from the Isolation Room as the big guy in the suit unlocked the door and Luke started being all dramatic as he instantly dropped to the ground and began kissing at the grass like he hadn’t been outside in months. Luke ended up dragging Michael down the ground too and they just laid there in the cold grass until it was dark out.

All of that seemed like centuries away now because so much had happened. Him and Luke were in their own little world at Lincoln Preparatory and Michael was having a hard time wanting to leave, he figured that Luke was going through the same thing since he was nowhere to be seen.

He was now approaching the pool house and this part of the school was what meant to most to him because it was the place he met Luke for the very first time.

He could easily picture that day when he first laid his eyes on Luke and back then he never would have imagined that they would be where they are now.

Michael opened the front doors and the smell of chlorine filled his nose as he walked through the entry way and into the main area.

Suddenly he could smell cigarette smoke and now he was positive that Luke was in here but yet he couldn’t see him.

“Luke” Michael kind of shouted but this whole place echoed so he knew Luke would easily be able to hear him. He heard a cat whistle from behind him and smiled wide before turning around. He turned to see Luke sitting in the corner of the room on the floor with his back on the window that overlooked the woods. “Luke what’re you doing?” Michael slightly whined and Luke just patted the spot next to him and smiled.

Michael listened of course and sat next to him to instantly rest his head on Luke’s shoulder. Luke kissed the top of his head, keeping his lips there and Michael already felt the stress drifting away from him.

“Oh and before I forget….Ash said you still owe him 20 bucks” Michael felt Luke chuckle against his head and then wrap an arm around his shoulder to bring him closer.

“I still can’t believe that bastard beat me” Luke grumbled a bit but Michael knew he was smiling.

“But you were drunk so it was unfair” Michael looked up at Luke and Luke bent down to lightly kiss his lips before smiling again.

“You’re right…he had an unfair advantage so I think we should have a rematch” and Michael just chuckled as he shook his head. He let out a breath when Luke started putting fingers through his hair and Michael looked out into the completely still blue water.

“You gonna miss this place?” Michael said quietly as he took his head off Luke’s shoulder to look at him. Luke was squinting his eyes a bit as he took a hit of his cigarette and looked out into the pool.

“It’ll be nice to finally be free but yeah…I’ll miss it” Luke was then looking at Michael and Michael still felt his heart speed up whenever Luke looked at him

“Will you?”

“Of course” Michael said straight away “This is where I met the love of my life” and he was aware of how cheesy it sounded as soon as he spoke but he didn’t care; it was true. Luke didn’t make fun of him though and instead just hummed to himself.

“Tell me about this love of your life” Luke said in a serious tone, still not making eye contact with Michael.

“Well there’s not enough time in the world to explain all the things I love about him” and he didn’t miss the way Luke’s mouth went up into a shy smile.

“Sounds like quite the catch” Luke smirked, looking up at Michael and exhaling smoke out the side of his mouth. Luke seemed happy and content but Michael could tell that there was something in particular that was bothering him.

Michael leaned forward and kissed Luke’s cheek then Luke was turning his head and looking at him and Michael kissed his lips.

“What’s wrong?” Michael said softly as he put a hand through the front of Luke’s hair. Luke let out a breath and shook his head and Michael kissed his lips again “Tell me”

“We never talked about what we’re doing after we graduate” and it was true; they hadn’t but Michael honestly didn’t care what college he went to as long as he was with Luke.

“Well…I was just planning on going to whatever college you went to” Michael said seriously but Luke did a crooked smile and looked back down.

“Take a year off with me” Luke said looking back up “We can just travel and not worry about school for a year”

“I’d love to” Michael chuckled “But with what money, Lucas?”

“I’ll sell my car” Luke said straight away and Michael’s eyes widened “Then we’ll just buy some cheap car and travel all over the country”

“But you love that car” Michael said in a shocked voice. Luke was fucking crazy about that car and everyone knew it.

“Well I love you more” Luke shot back and Michael felt a warm feeling in his chest “And I wanna travel; just you and me. It’d be fucking amazing”

“We can runaway like you said” Michael whispered to himself as he looked down, remembering how on Christmas break Luke wanted them to just run away so they didn’t have to go back to school. Michael loved the idea back then and now the idea was actually possible “Yeah…yeah I’ll do it” Michael smiled wide, feeling so happy.

“Really?” Luke sat up then he was flicking his cigarette on the floor away from them and Michael nodded fast. Luke was then leaning forward and bringing them into a heated kiss and Michael whimpered as he ran his hands through Luke’s hair “Fuck I love you” Luke whispered against his lips and Michael still felt breathless as his eyes were closed.

“I love you too” Michael pecked his lips again and felt Luke smile. They were actually going to do this; they were going to run away together and Michael couldn’t wait.

  
*

Michael had the biggest smile on his face as he watched Luke walk across the stage and get his diploma. Surprisingly Luke was even smiling when he shook hands with his father and Michael hoped that they could settle their differences.

Michael’s life here at Lincoln Prep had been nothing like he ever expected. When he first arrived here he was sure that he wouldn’t be able to wait until he could get out of here but as he was sitting in the auditorium with all his classmates as he watched Luke walk off the stage in his cap and gown he actually felt like he didn’t want to leave this school.

He had so many memories in just his two short years of being here and all of them involved Luke.

He began to look around the tall ceiling auditorium as he remembered how earlier this year Ashton lost a bet with Roman so he ended up having to try out for the annual school play and they were all surprised when Ashton actually got the lead part.

Michael remembers sitting at the very top of the Auditorium with Luke, Roman and Calum as they all cheered as loud as they could whenever Ashton came out on stage.

He had actually ended up loving being in the play and afterwards they all went into town to have a few drinks.

Michael also remembers how they had all fell asleep out in the living room in the Blitz dorm and he had fallen asleep with his head in Luke’s laps as Luke brushed fingers through his hair. Luke and Ashton had both been talking to each other like crazy that night and Michael smiled wide when it was evident that they were officially best friends again.

It was little memories like that that made Michael realize how much he would miss this place.

Sure, Luke wasn’t going anywhere and they would always be with each other but now that high school was over they probably wouldn’t see Ashton, Calum or Roman again and Michael had become quite fond of all those boy’s.

They wouldn’t ever be able to do those simple things like wondering the corridors late at night, risk getting detention by going into the woods or sitting in Luke’s room drinking with the windows wide open on the first nice day of the year.

Michael would miss all of that and then some but he knew a whole new chapter of his life was ahead of him.

*

After the ceremony Michael finally got away from his parents, after his mom wouldn’t stop hugging and congratulating him, and he was searching for Luke in the large crowds of people.

He spotted Luke way off towards the corner of the room next to a small woman that was fixing his collar and then Michael was making his way over there.

When he got closer he put his hand on the small of Luke’s back and Luke turned around with a smile already on his face, probably being able to sense Michael’s touch, and then Michael smiled back.

“Babe” he said in his proper voice “This is my mother” and Michael smiled at her before shaking her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Michael” she said softly and Michael gave Luke a questioning look, wondering how she knew his name.

“I might have mentioned you a couple times” Luke said shrugging.

He watched the both of them exchange a few more words before Luke was excusing himself and telling his mother that he would meet her back at the house. Michael was surprised that Luke was actually going to go home but he was happy that he was; he had all the time in the world to spend with Luke so he knew he couldn’t be selfish.

Luke was leading them through the crowds of people, their hands clasped tightly, and Michael just let Luke lead him without any questions. He had gotten to the point where he never questioned where Luke took him anymore, he just went with it.

“Oh! Robbie!” Luke was suddenly shouting and Michael looked over to see Robbie standing against the wall, looking a bit lost honestly “I got you something, bud” and Michael prepared himself. He figured Luke was just going to spew out more bullshit to this boy like he did every time they talked.

“Hey, Luke” Robbie smiled up at them and Michael felt his eyes roaming down and expected to see a fanny pack around his waist but didn’t see one. He was almost positive that the fanny pack was under his gown; it had to be.

“This is for you” Luke spoke softly and Michael watched closely as Luke rolled up his gown a bit to take something out of his pants pocket. Michael couldn’t believe it but Luke was then bringing out a small sweater that was their school colors.

“Oh my god, Luke” Robbie gasped as he took the sweater between his fingers “You actually knitted this?”

“No” Luke chuckled and Michael took a double look at him “I actually bought it at a pet shop in town and it’s originally for an iguana but I figured he’d grow into it” and Michael’s couldn’t stop smiling as Luke, for once, spoke so honestly and softly to Robbie. His egotistical tone that he normally used with Robbie was completely gone.

“He will, he will” Robbie shot out quickly “Thank you so much, Luke”

“Don’t mention it” Luke smiled and then he was glancing at Michael “Well it’s been an interesting four years Robbie” Luke was then sticking out his hand and even Robbie looked shocked at how different Luke was being but shook his hand none the less.

“It has” he said sounding actually shy and Luke just chuckled a bit before he was walking away a little and Michael followed him.

“Take care, bud” Luke threw over his shoulder and Robbie just smiled wide as he waved.

Luke was then leading them out of the Auditorium and Michael glanced all over the room, knowing he wouldn’t ever see it again.

After the big doors shut behind them they were back in the dimly lit corridor and Luke looked both ways before turning to the right and not even looking back to see if Michael was following him again. Michael was walking a few steps behind him until he jogged a little to be right next to Luke and then Luke was smiling at him.

Michael was reminded of the time that him and Luke were walking through the corridors late at night, for the first time, before they snuck into the kitchen to eat and he got a warm feeling in his chest.

Suddenly they were stopping in front of the gym and Luke took out a set of keys before he unlocked the door and slipped inside.

The automatic lights came on instantly and Michael looked all over the bleachers as he could see him and Luke’s last year’s selves sitting at the very top of them.

“Dance with me” Luke’s voice was echoing through the room and Michael chuckled before looking at him standing in the middle of the shiny floor.

“What?”

“Where were we during prom this year?” Luke said as he began to unbutton his gown and took off his hat to throw it to the floor.

“In detention” Michael laughed “Because we got caught sleeping in Roman’s room for the second time in week”

“Which is why I wanna make it up to you” Luke said putting out his hand as his gown was on the floor and he wore a black dress shirt and black dress pants.

Michael smiled as he looked down at Luke’s out stretched hand and began walking towards him. He grabbed Luke’s hand and Luke was pulling him in fast to his chest which had Michael giggling. Luke was then grabbing Michael’s hands and clasping them behind his own neck and then moved his hands to wrap around Michael’s torso as they slowly began to rock back and forth.

Michael instantly melted into Luke’s strong but soft embrace as he rested his head on the boys’ shoulder. Michael closed his eyes and tried to picture what it would have been like to really go to prom with Luke; to see him in a nice tux and then afterwards Michael was sure that they would have gotten drunk somewhere on campus and end up falling asleep in the quad.

“If we were at prom-“

“We are at prom” Luke said seriously and Michael giggled as he shook his head a bit.

“Okay since we’re at prom…what song is playing?” Michael spoke with a smile and Luke took a few seconds to think about it as he rubbed a hand up and down Michael’s back and lightly kissed his hair. He was then humming, with his lips still against Michael’s hair, as he continued to rock them back and forth.

“Naturally, As We Grow Older by Roy English would be playing”

“Naturally” Michael chuckled and then he was taking his head off of Luke’s shoulder and looking at him. Luke already had a smile on his face and Michael leaned forward and kissed him “Remind me how that one goes again?” Michael hadn’t actually ever heard that song, and Luke knew it, but he also just wanted an excuse to hear Luke sing; he could listen to Luke sing all day.

Michael felt his heart speeding up when Luke did a crooked smile and nodded before kissing his cheek and then the spot below his ear before he began to hum the beginning of the song.

As soon as Luke began to sing the song Michael felt his eyes closing and he let out a breath as Luke held him tighter.

_“You find love when you’re never really looking”_

_“We’re both scared but it feels so right this time”_

_“And you don’t know cause before your heart they took it but everything before caused us to collide”_

_“The same old story but never like this before. A boy meets a boy in this world and they fall in love”_ and Michael already felt himself getting emotional from the lyrics _“Now everything’s in the past so I stop and I thank the lord…for sending you to me”_ Michael clung onto Luke as he pinched his eyes shut and tried to stop the tears from coming. 

“Luke” Michael whimpered out and Luke just pressed his face into his hair as he kissed him a few times before continuing.

 _“And time will change all those lines on your face as we grow older…I’ll grow more in love with you and the world may fade but my love will remain as we grow older…I’ll grow more in love with you”_ he began to hum again _“More in love with you….more in love with you”_ Michael had heard Luke tell him that he loves him dozens of times but for some reason when he said it this time it was even more stronger to the point where Michael could feel Luke’s love for him all over his body and he actually felt like he would fall over if Luke wasn’t holding him up _“I thank God that the others just missed it”_

_“I saw you the way no one had before”_

_“So as the sun sinks down in the distance. Now I will wait for you along the other shore”_

_“Remember all those nights when I didn’t have a dollar? But you loved me for me and so much more”_ and Michael just nodded at those last words; he loved Luke so much it hurt.

 _“And other boys might talk but you know I never bother…cause you were sent for me”_ and Michael couldn’t hold it back any longer. He let out a snuffle and let the tears fall on Luke’s shoulder as Luke pressed his lips to his cheek as he sang the chorus again.

By the end of the song Michael was taking in deep breaths at trying to stop the tears but there was no use; he felt so happy and he doesn’t think he’s ever felt emotions this strong in his entire life.

He let his arms fall from Luke’s neck and instead wrapped them around his torso and Luke put his arms around Michael’s neck as he rubbed both of his hands slowly through Michael’s hair and kissed all the places on his face that he could reach from this position.

Luke was then slightly pulling away so he could look at Michael and instantly began wiping the tears off his face and replacing them with loving kisses instead and Michael kept his eyes closed the whole time.

He didn’t open them until he felt both of Luke’s hands on his cheeks as he rubbed at the skin. Luke kissed Michael’s lips then kept his lips there.

“I wanna change the setting” he spoke quietly and Michael just opened his mouth, not knowing what to say and Luke just kissed him again “It’s not our prom night”

“It’s not?” Michael whispered as he wondered where Luke was going with this.

“No” Luke shook his head and flicked his eyes up Michael’s face a few times and for some reason Michael felt himself getting nervous “It’s our wedding day” Michael widened his eyes at Luke’s words as he actually felt like his knees were going to give out on him and he just stared back at Luke who couldn’t possibly know how hard those words had hit him.

His heart was pounding as Luke actually seemed like he was getting worried because of Michael’s lack of response. Michael still felt so speechless though.

“So….” Michael swallowed hard and tried again as he forced himself to calm down “So this is the song that we’ll dance to at our wedding?” Michael meant it as a statement but it came out as a question instead with how emotional he was still feeling.

“If you want” Luke said nodded as he rubbed his thumb against Michael’s cheek again.

“Yeah…yeah” Michael finally felt like the air was coming back to him as he smiled and leaned forward to rest his forehead against Luke’s “I think it’s perfect” Luke didn’t say anything back instead just kissed Michael’s lips and cupped his cheek and then rubbed his other hand through Michael’s hair as he slowly kissed him “Fuck…you’re perfect” Michael whispered against his lips and Luke just dove forward again and brought them into a more intense kiss as he ran his tongue against Michael’s bottom lip and moaned out as he kissed him again.

“I wanna spend the rest of my life with you” Luke said sternly once he leaned away from Michael’s lips.

“Consider me all yours” Michael said seriously, because he meant it so much, but then he smiled when he remembered that Luke said those exact words to him when he said he wanted him to be his boyfriend.

Luke was then letting out a stuttered breath and falling forward, like his legs were failing him, and then he was leaning his forehead against Michael’s cheek as he took a deep breath.

“I love you so m-much” Luke’s stuttering was the first thing that shocked Michael but when he felt a tear on his cheek that wasn’t his he felt his heartbeat picking up again and he held Luke tightly as he was silently telling him that he would always protect him and that he would always love him.

“I love you too, Luke. I always will”


End file.
